Friday, September 21, 2012

UPS and FedEx agree to stop shipping lab animals

This week, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced it has secured written agreements from two shipping giants, FedEx and UPS, that they will no longer transport mammals for laboratory use.

UPS says that it will also "restrict" an exemption that allows for the transport of amphibians, fish, insects and other non-mammals.

"FedEx and UPS were not transporting many or any animals, but we felt it was crucial to go to them and discuss this as we knew that facilities trying to send non-human primates and other species would be going to them soon, as more and more passenger airlines refused to do business with them," says Kathy Guillermo, PETA's senior vice-president for laboratory investigations.

The commitments will have a direct effect on very few researchers, and for the most part it's a symbolic victory for the animal rights group, indicating that research advocates are failing to make the case for the use of lab animals.

Charles Hewett, executive vice-president and chief operating officer at the Jackson Laboratory, says that less than 10 percent of the several million specialized mice that Jackson ships from its U.S. locations each year travel by air; most are shipped domestically by 18-wheel truck.

Hewett says he finds it "troubling that the corporate leaderships of UPS, FedEx and others yield to the pressure of a small minority who overlook the importance of what we do for preventing, curing and treating human disease."

PETA says that it is engaging every major cargo carrier in the world, putting pressure on both international and domestic shipments.

For more of the Scientific American story: scientificamerican.com

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