Parkinson's drug research closely monitored: UBC

The deaths of four monkeys at the University of B.C., now under investigation by the BC SPCA, resulted from a small dose of a designer drug being tested in Parkinson's disease research and was completely unexpected, the university says.

And that research was fully overseen by UBC's Animal Care Committee, despite claims to the contrary by animal rights activists, the committee chairman says.

A spokeswoman for research animal watchdog group STOP UBC Animal Research, Anne Birthistlem, said she was concerned UBC researcher Doris Doudet's experiment did not receive full scrutiny by the ACC because it was a "pilot project."

But ACC chairman Marcel Bally said that Doudet's work was not done as a pilot project.

UBC spokesman Randy Schmidt said the committee reviewed the proposed research and the protocol for the treatment of those animals. Committee members also conducted annual inspections of UBC's animal research facilities.

As well, veterinarians paid monthly visits to each facility and were involved on-site during significant procedures.

Schmidt added that those veterinarians were required to report any breaches of the research's protocol or any perceived abuse of the animals to the Animal Care Committee.

As well, a national organization, the Canadian Council on Animal Care, inspects the animal research facility at threeyear intervals.

Before each CCAC inspection, UBC is given 30-days' notice. Advance notice is necessary for the university to gather the documentation the council would need to decide ahead of time what specific research projects they want to examine more closely, Bally said.

CCAC spokesman Pascal Belleau said assessments done by their organization at UBC are held by the university and it is up to the university to decide whether or not to release the files.

Continued here:
Parkinson's drug research closely monitored: UBC