THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 21, 1996 TAG: 9606210523
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 83 lines
AIDS activists favoring the use of animals for medical research were arrested Thursday, after they lay in the street to block traffic at an international animal rights conference in Washington.
Nine activists were arrested outside the U.S. Air Arena, including Jeff Getty of San Francisco, who received a bone marrow transplant from a baboon last year as an experimental treatment for AIDS. They were released after each paid a $15 fine for obstructing traffic.
The clash came at the start of the three-day World Congress for Animals, which is sponsored in part by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the world's largest animal rights organization. It was a prelude to Sunday's animal rights march to the Capitol, which is expected to draw more than 50,000 people, and Monday's christening of PETA's new headquarters in downtown Norfolk.
The conference has prompted a skirmish between animal rights activists and people who support using animals for medical research.
Earlier this week, the Foundation for Biomedical Research, a Washington group representing medical researchers, held a press conference charging that the rigid agenda of many animal rights groups impedes medical progress on major diseases like cancer and AIDS.
Lending their support to the foundation were 52 other groups, such as the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.
PETA, one of the sponsors of the animal rights conference, has been a focal point of the debate. It opposes animal research, even if that research leads to a cure for human suffering. It says the research can be accomplished through other means, such as computer models and human volunteers.
``If a cure for AIDS came from animal experiments, which it will not, I could really have no comfort in thinking, oh goody, lots of beings had to suffer for this,'' said PETA co-founder Ingrid Newkirk in an interview earlier this month. ``Animal experiments have caused absolute agony to countless animals.''
PETA's supporters include many AIDS patients, who often share much of the organization's philosophy that animals should not be used for food or clothing.
But PETA's agenda for sparing animals from use in research has caused division among leaders of AIDS groups. Some say that they put the needs of humans before the welfare of animals.
``In the last 18 months we keep hearing statements from PETA leadership saying if you need animals to develop cures or treatments for AIDS, it's not worth it,'' said Gary Rose, a spokesman for the AIDS Action Council. ``As someone who has seen my entire peer group die, that's hard for me to swallow.''
Kathleen Vickery, editor of a Hampton Roads gay publication, Our Own Community Press, said, ``It's a difficult thing when you have to balance the lives of millions of animals against the lives of people. I think most people would support their own species.''
However, Steve Simmons, a PETA supporter and AIDS patient, said there is no consensus in the AIDS community about animal research. On Thursday at the arena, he tried to counteract Getty's demonstration by reading a statement of support from another AIDS group.
``We're moving into a technologically magical era,'' he said. ``We can do better than playing with baboon bone marrow. There are plenty of human volunteers.''
More than 100 Hampton Roads residents are expected to participate in Sunday's march on the Capitol. However, AIDS groups in Hampton Roads said they did not know of any local AIDS activists planning to protest in Washington.
AIDS activists plan to distribute leaflets and protest during the conference, and may crash the celebrity gala on Saturday. MEMO: EVENT SCHEDULE
Some upcoming events at World Animal Awareness Week in Washington:
Today: Second day of World Congress for Animals, including speakers
from PETA, the Human Society of the United States and the Doris Day
Animal League.
Saturday: Last day of World Congress for Animals, including speakers
Jane Goodall and Carl Sagan. Celebrity gala in evening.
Sunday: March for the Animals at noon, from the Ellipse to the
Capitol. Rally at 3 p.m., including singer Chrissy Hynde, actress Rue
McClanahan, author Peter Singer, and Maneke Ghandi, an environmentalist
and the daughter-in-law of Indira Ghandi, former prime minister of
India. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Baboon-marrow recipient Jeff Getty of San Francisco, left, joined
others in support of the use of animals in medical studies. Getty
and eight others were arrested Thursday. by CNB