Group raps experiments on animals at Boys Town

National Catholic Reporter, Sept 27, 1996 by Teresa Malcolm

Activists Philip Berrigan and Fr. Daniel Berrigan joined protests organized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) against experiments being carried out on cats at Boys Town in Omaha, Neb.

PETA called the research cruel and unnecessary. Boys Town has called PETA's charges "irresponsible" and "a publicity stunt."

After, an anonymous tip from an employee of Boys Town National Research Hospital, an investigator for PETA applied and was hired for a position in the research laboratory. After the seven-month undercover investigation, PETA filed a complaint with the National Institutes of Health and the United States Department of Agriculture charging that the experiments on cats at the hospital violate federal laws relating to the care of animals. The experiments are funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.

According to PETA researcher Edward Walsh performs experiments in which he severs nerves at the base of kittens' brains. In a video taken by the investigator, kittens who had survived the surgery wailed, could not stand upright and continually turned in circles. Most are not given painkillers, according to PETA. PETA said that experts have questioned the value of Walsh's experiments, citing the differences in the causes of deafness in cats and in humans.

PETA also objected to experiments carried out by Glenn R. Farley, whose research studies vocalization in cats. Cats, according to PETA, are starved to condition them to cry out for food and electrodes and recording devices are surgically implanted in their larynxes and skulls.

PETA said scientists have also criticized Farley for using cats as a model of human vocalization, claiming the experiments have "no potential relevance for the treatment of common speech disorders in humans."

PETA also charged the researchers with failing to provide adequate veterinary care or uphold minimal cleanliness standards. In addition, the investigator reported cats suffering needlessly at the hands of inexperienced staff.

PETA suggested that the review process for experiments and animal care at Boys Town may be compromised because Joann McGee, Walsh's wife, is chair of Boys Town's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

In a statement released Sept. 16, Boys Town denied mistreating animals, accusing PETA of using Boys Tows good name for "a publicity stunt."

Boys Town said the hospital immediately suspended the research projects pending internal and external reviews. The preliminary findings of these reviews, Boys Town said, indicate no evidence of animal abuse. In addition. Boys Town, said that experts in auditory research and neural science from such institutions as Harvard and Johns Hopkins University have said the research being carried out by Walsh and Farley is valuable for understanding hearing loss and nerve growth.

The case has attracted national attention, including a letter of "outrage" from the Berrigan brothers to Fr. Val J. Peter, executive director of Boys Town. The public funds used for the experiments "could otherwise go to programs and services that would truly help deaf people," said the Berrigans.

A cousin of the brothers, Patrick Berrigan, who is deaf, also wrote a letter to the Omaha World-Herald, cautioning Boys Town "not to assume that the deaf want to become hearing." He wrote, "The deaf can indeed vocalize and we will raise our voices against this abomination that haunts humans and animals."