by Tamara Traubman
A new bill submitted by MK Nechama Ronen, which deals with animal experiments, succeeded in rousing the scientific community from its slumber. Ronan seeks, among other things, to change the current situation where most of the people in the body that supervises animal experiments are interested in the continuation of the experiments. Ronan requests that in these bodies there be a majority of independent public representatives and representatives of organizations for the sake of animals. The proposal should come up for a preliminary reading vote in a few weeks. Currently on the Knesset table are also a bill submitted by MK Yossi Sharid, calling for a ban on experiments that are not for the purpose of "saving lives", and a bill by MK Eitan Kabel, calling for labeling products tested on animals.
Last week, panicked messages were sent on the universities' internal e-mail network calling on scientists to stand up and mobilize against Ronen's proposal. "This is not the time for subtlety," wrote Micha Leshem, professor of psychology at the University of Haifa, and added: "I call on all of you to write to Ronan to withdraw her offer."
The Board of Heads of Universities (VRA) hired - in a rare move, that some of the lecturers stood up - lobbyists from a Haifa public relations office called "Effective Media" for the purpose of lobbying the Knesset. The firm is owned by Yair Kahal. A spokeswoman for RA confirmed the details, but she and Khalil refused to disclose how much the committee paid for the firm's services. However, it was reported from the WRA that about NIS 28,700 was allocated to handle the bills regarding animal experiments. The rest of the activities organized by the committee on the subject cost almost no money.
In fact, a law approved by the Knesset six years ago regulates the subject of experiments, and from its effect a council was established whose job it is to approve or reject experiments, and to supervise their execution. The law states that 23 members will participate in the council, 17 of whom have an interest in conducting experiments on animals - professors from the various faculties (including those not involved in experiments), as well as representatives of the manufacturers' association, the defense system, and the ministries of health, education and science. Currently, three representatives from animal rights organizations are members of the council.
According to Ronan's proposal, the council will consist of 21 members, one-third of whom will be academics, one-third members of animal welfare organizations and one-third members of the public, who have no connection to animal experiments. The permits to carry out the experiments are currently given by internal committees of the universities, which consist of faculty members. The report to the council about the experiment was made only in retrospect. According to the new proposal, the representation in the internal committees will be the same as the representation in the council (representative of the university, representative of animal welfare organizations and public representative).
The minister in charge of the council's work, according to Ronan's proposal, will be the minister of the environment, instead of the minister of health. More than 40 research centers scattered throughout the country are currently engaged in animal experiments. Ronan requested that seven veterinarian-inspectors be added to the one veterinarian who is currently responsible for the audit of the experiments throughout the country.
Ronan also wants to impose external supervision on animal experiments carried out by the security system. According to the existing law, the supervision of the Council's veterinarian does not apply to the security system, and it is also not required to report its experiments to the Council. According to the new proposal, a representative from the animal organizations (who will receive an appropriate security classification) will also sit on the Animal Testing Permits Committee of the security establishment, and the council will be provided with the number of animals that participated in the experiments, which ones, as well as as many details as possible about the type of experiment.
Ronan says that she does not want to stop scientific and medical research. She is aware that her proposal will undergo changes during the discussions, and mainly the parts concerning the security system will be changed. "I knew," she said, "that if I submitted a minor offer, I would end up with nothing." This is my initial offer, the basis for negotiations."
Prof. Ehud Ziv from the Hebrew University, who chairs a committee established by the RA to inform and coordinate the universities' actions on the issue of animal experiments, prefers that the council remain in its current composition. "This lineup seems good and balanced to me and has proven itself. If anything, I would add representatives of patients there," he said. Ziv did not elaborate on the shortcomings of the composition proposed by Ronan, on the grounds that the proposal has not yet been approved in a preliminary reading.
Ziv, as well as many other scientists, believes that the existing law is sufficient, and has already caused a significant change in the experiment policy. According to him, since the law came into force, the university has invested more than 10 million shekels in improving the conditions of holding the bank, "and we continue to add improvements all the time", he said. Dr. Zvi Reiter, the director of the Experimental School for Natural and Environmental Sciences of the Reali School in Haifa, says that he is not totally opposed to animal experiments, but he has reservations about the way some of them are done, and the treatment the laboratory animals receive. As someone who completed his doctoral thesis in the field of immunology at the Weizmann Institute, he testifies that "scientists are generally good people, but during the routine work they lose empathy for animals". According to him, the new bill could lead to a fruitful public debate on the issue of animal experiments, as well as "increase the awareness of researchers".
According to Menachem Segal, a professor at the Weizmann Institute and chairman of the Israel Neuroscience Society, the animal rights supporters' claim that the universities' internal permit committees serve as "rubber stamps" is "ridiculous and has no grip on reality." He and several other scientists say that these committees consider the requests thoroughly, and if necessary ask for further clarifications, the purpose of which is to make sure that everything possible is indeed done to minimize the suffering the animal will experience during the experiment. However, the content of the discussions of the internal committees is kept secret, on the grounds that the delivery of the information to other parties could lead to "stealing ideas" and harming competitiveness. Segal claims that if the proposed change to the composition of the council is accepted, there will be a majority of people without professional tools to judge the experiments.
Dozens of letters of protest on the subject, which came from all the universities in Israel, were sent to Ronan, and next week she is expected to start a round of talks with the applicants. The bill includes alternatives to experiments. Some scientific research can also be carried out in alternatives to animals, such as cell cultures or computer models developed in recent years. In the new bill, MK Nechama Ronan asks to encourage the development of alternatives to animal experiments.
Ronan requests that every research institution allocate at least 10% of its research budget "for the purpose of developing alternatives that eliminate the use of animals". If her proposal is accepted, the universities and companies conducting experiments on animals will be forced to dedicate also one percent of their research budget for the purpose of rehabilitating the animals after the experiments are over.
