Statement by Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO, The Humane Society of the United States
On the tenth anniversary of the creation of the cloned sheep named "Dolly," The Humane Society of the United States reaffirms its grave concerns about biotechnological research on farm animals intended to propagate certain traits useful to agribusiness, such as meat yield or feed conversion.
Recent cloning research has resulted in high failure rates, premature deaths, and such abnormalities as intestinal blockages; diabetes; shortened tendons; deformed feet; weakened immune systems; dysfunctional hearts, brains, livers, and kidneys; respiratory distress; and circulatory problems. A 2003 review of cloning procedures in cattle found that less than 5 percent of all cloned embryos transferred into recipient cows survived, and a review published in 2005 confirmed that there has been no noticeable increase in efficiency. Surrogate mothers used in farm animal cloning research also suffer from reduced welfare from fetal overgrowth, repeated surgeries and injections, and pregnancy complications that have resulted in death.
Despite the low success rates and reduced animal welfare for surviving clones and surrogate mothers, the Food and Drug Administration's 2003 draft executive summary, Animal Cloning: A Risk Assessment, claimed that "the proportion of live, normal births appears to be increasing." However, members of the FDA's own Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee felt that the agency had not adequately characterized the risk to animals and raised concerns about the level of animal suffering potentially caused by cloning. As recently as June 2005, an FDA representative stated that cloned animals were more likely to suffer birth defects and health problems when very young, demonstrating these problems have not been resolved.
In the United States, there are currently no regulations to protect the welfare of farm animals during cloning research. This lack of oversight on what can be done to animals in pursuit of increasing agricultural output, coupled with the historical willingness of industrialized agriculture to sacrifice welfare for productivity, reveal many of the problems with much biotechnological animal research.
The HSUS is committed to scientific advancement, but only that which has a legitimate social value and improves-not decreases-animal welfare, two critical components lacking in the case of developing commercial cloning of farm animals.
The nation's largest animal protection organization, The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, marine mammals, animals in research, equine protection, and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The nonprofit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at www.hsus.org.
