The New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS), in
collaboration with United Poultry Concerns (UPC), has produced
a new brochure that provides an overview of the animal
protection concerns regarding the use of birds in agriculture
and biomedical research.
Titled "The Use of Birds in Agriculture and Biomedical
Research," the brochure notes that birds such as chickens,
turkeys, ducks, quail, and pigeons receive no legal protection
under the federal Animal Welfare Act, which addresses animal
use in biomedical research. As a result, these animals are not
counted in the annual census of research animals compiled by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The brochure also makes explicit the close and long-standing
link between the agricultural use of birds and their use in
biomedical research. Because birds are considered to be cheap
and easily bred and managed, the poultry industry provides
laboratories with a steady supply of fowl, who are then unable
to engage in their normal types of behavior.
The brochure, part of a public-awareness campaign that asks
readers to urge the USDA to extend AWA protections to birds, is
based on a more comprehensive paper on "The Experimental Use of
Chickens and Other Birds in Biomedical and Agricultural
Research," available on the websites of NEAVS and UPC.
Sources: NEAVS, UPC
