Research program uses local ‘strays’
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1978
Page 5
By SUSAN WEBB
Battalion Reporter
In the past, the fate of a stray
imal in College Station was not
leasant. Even if the stray managed
escape death from exposure to
le elements, car injury, or starva-
n, it still faced being captured by
officer with the humane society.
The city of College Station’s ani-
|ial control policy used to be that a
ftiay animal which was picked up
taken to a holding pen at the
6ty dump. If the animal was not
laimed within 72 hours it was shot.
I The policy has been changed,
liter being used in helpful experi-
lents for research, the strays are
illed in a more humane manner by
ersonnel at the Texas A&M Uni-
|iersity Laboratory Animal Re-
purces and Research (LARR) facil-
■ President of the Humane Society,
Aan Duffy, cited an example of the
last policy’s inadequacy, which
Jrompted citizens of College Station
j ti do something about the problem.
"About two years ago, a
jighbor’s dog got loose and bit a
gger. The jogger was only nipped
ithe ankle but he called the police
i have the dog picked up since it
adn’t had its shots,” she said.
Duffy recalled that the matter had
bt been handled in a correct man-
assistant dimer “The dog should have been im-
lliary OiAunded for ten days for observa-
xas A&M, A on ’ b ut they took him out to the
for his *'Jb' dump to the pen where the
)” recipe J" mal a PP arent, y g ot loose,” she
sa.'.
■ “The animal started running and
le (humane officer) shot him,”
banquetsiJM)’ added. Duffy said that the
raging aboilh 26115 °f College Station needed to
With thatiA educated on what the problems
(ford toiffiiAanimal control policies were,
aid. I Duffy said the city of College Sta-
e responsi! A™ needs an adequate facility that
dies one m ou *d include a pet adoption pro-
is A&M ti ram an< d spay and neutering serv-
ilogy Depar es f°r the stray animals if enough
ing and qu nds could ever be allocated.
The College Station animal con
trol policy now provides for the
stray animal to be boarded at a local
veterinary hospital. If the stray is
boarded for 72 hours without being
claimed, it is brought to the LARR
facility by humane officer, Marc
Hodges.
Hodges, who became humane of
ficer last summer, says that all dogs
and cats are to be licensed with the
city.
“Anyone can come up to the
clerk’s office and register their ani
mal with the city,” he said. “If the
animal has one of our tags, I can
come up to the police station and
identify where it belongs right
away,” he added.
But if the owner is not found or
the stray animal is not claimed, it is
then donated to the LARR facility
for research.
The LARR facility receives all of
its research animals from pound
facilities of some type. “We only go
IW
ghtly da:
e me a n
1 the salesi
y S20 more
Animals put to sleep
by ‘untrained’ staffs
More than a third of the 44 animal shelters visitied this year by a
Humane Society specialist had poorly trained personnel in charge of
putting thousands of unowned and unwanted animals to sleep, said
Phyllis Wright, society spokeswoman of Washignton, D.C. Wright,
shelter director for 13 years, said at the Texas A&M University ani
mal control conference that the people responsible for this less-than-
enviable task must be prepared psychologically and technically.
Only then, she said, will euthanasia truly be a peaceful death for
dogs and cats — free from stress, fear, pain and apprehension.
Irresponsible pet owners must bear their part of the blame for
“littering” the streets with strays that endanger public health, Wright
indicated. These same people are appalled when they find out their
local shelter kills perfectly healthy animals, sometimes as many as 90
percent of them.
“The public still thinks all animals are kept,” she told animal con
trol officers at the College of Veterinary Medicine-hosted meeting.
“Once the decision is made to euthanize, she explained, careful
consideration must be given to making is as humane as possible for
both the animal and the persons hired to do it.
“It is morally wrong for a person who does the euthanizing not to
know the current discussion on methods of death, ” said Wright.
Four states have recently outlawed the pressure chamber as the
prime instrument of death, and questions are being raised about
carbon monoxide methods because of the safety hazards to shelter
workers.
Carbon dioxide and nitrogen methods, as well as drug injection,
are among other methods tested and used, but so are such crude
techniques as gunshot.
The people surrounding the act of death often appear profoundly
affected as the dying, so careful consideration must be made in select
ing workers who will put animal to sleep so they will do it as
humanely as possible for both of them.
A Thanksgiving ministry:
inner for 150 strangers
United Press International
SAN ANTONIO — Dorothy
■tty, described by a friend as a
id you said Jerson “who does good by faith
j went a lone,” has invited 150 strangers to
now toolalf jer house for Thanksgiving dinner
.gree. Youo bis year.
haveaDea [As she has for the past 34 years,
ive it. |e widow will cook and serve
hanksgiving dinner for 50 basic
legal advis ainees at Lackland Air Force Base,
al andsboi [foreign students and 50 students
stions for from San Antonio College who
erwise would be having cafeteria
Ian
rt
It’s amazing how the groups fit
[dgether,” Perry said. “When
re getting ready to come, I’m
they’re thinking it couldn’t be
y fan. But, once here, we have a
J'etty unique Thanksgiving
Inner.”
Jin keeping with her work as a
Christian missionary, Perry con
flicts a non-denominational
in^-anksgiving service before dinner
! l '‘"!j t |', fld later the guests present skits
Veli j*! Ipresentative of their country or
if the F®. , , . _
, . .j, (Although she insists on occasion-
1111 ly preaching Christianity to those
^ ejas ( [other faiths, the government of
'Vnventi* P 11 ^ 35 been so impressed with her
rleans S'
ire the pj
nt Gerald
weral pf
a route,
ig Texas
•mphonic
ion. I ( ^
11 concerts
es fro® I®
vas feat®'
stival a» [
j Texas >
n convent*
volunte eI
ek.
RESUME SERVICE
ell yourself effectively. Have a
rofessional resume prepared by
BUSINESS &
COMMUNICATION SERVICES
)all 846-5794 for an appointment
work with Iranian students in the
area that it has invited her to visit
the country.
“Last year a young man told me
that he was in a hurry to get back to
his barracks, Perry recalls. “He
thought the day was going to be bor
ing. By the time he left, he hugged
me and said it was one of the hap
piest days of his life. ”
Perry said her life is enriched by
serving Thanksgiving dinner to per-
sons who are away from their homes
and their families during the holi
day.
“My late husband was a mis
sionary and I helped him minister to
the needs of servicemen and prison
ers of war 34 years ago,” she said.
“Every since that time. I’ve been try
ing to help our young servicemen.
“The cooking is good at the base,
but these young people, away from
their families for the first time, need
the love and friendship of a homes-
tyle Thanksgiving.”
Perry is one of several San Anto
nians taking part in an eight-year
program to invite many of Lack
land’s 10,000 trainees to private
homes for Thanksgiving dinner.
Chaplain Capt. Brian Talcott said
the program, co-sponsored by the
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
£ HATE DOING *
* LAUNDRY? £
♦ Let Frannie's do it for you
£ Aunt Frannies £
■K Laundromat a*
AHolleman at Anderson 693-6587fr
San Antonio Council of Churches,
placed 2,500 trainees in homes for
the traditional family feast last year
and estimates the number will rise
to 5,000 this Thanksgiving.
“Many civic organizations and
church groups pool their efforts and
invite 30 or 40 trainees to dinner,”
Talcott said. “But most of the
trainees go in pairs to homes.”
Perry said she has little money,
but somehow she manages to pre
pare an adequate feast for her
guests.
“I’m a missionary and many
churches support my efforts and
help with my projects, but I don’t
know who bought all the food I
cooked last year for Thanksgiving,”
she said.
“Every home should have one of
these young people for Thanksgiv
ing dinner, especially those who
don’t have children. They just don’t
know the joy it brings until they’ve
tried it.”
BUSINESS CBUEBE
Inquire About Our Term
Starting January 2
Phone 822-6423 or 822-2368
For more information call
822-6423
AT THE INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PANCAKES
MIDNIGHT MADNESS
ON
IP
':30
WED.,
ALL THE
PANCAKES
YOU CAN
EAT!!!
Just
1
And while you’re stowing
’em away. . . Meet the new
owner, Mike.
International House of Pancakes®
103 N. College Ave.
College Station
ilj IHfiMlP ...for many good reasons
International House of Pancakes* HM (g)
through state or city operated pick
up people, and primarily police de
partments with their own humane
officers, such as College Station,”
said Jeff Sanford, manager of the
LARR facility.
“By going through these places
we know that the animals they have
been picked up and have been held
at some central location as a stray for
a set period of time, normally from
three to five days,” Sanford said,“to
give the owners a chance to claim. ”
The stray animals that are
brought to the LARR facility are
used in research for the betterment
of society.
Before the animal is used in a
chronic experiment, it is held for at
least 30 days at the LARR facility.
Sanford said the animals are
checked to make sure they are in
good physical condition, free of
heart-worms, and appropriately
vaccinated.
“This is to make sure that they are
good solid animals before they are
placed under study,” he added.
One experiment that is being
worked on is called a flea bite sen
sitivity test. This is done by working
with different antigens (any sub
stance that when introduced in the
body, stimulates the production of
an antibody) on dogs.
“A lot of dogs will get a large
number of fleas on the body that
causes a skin rash and severe itch
ing,” Sanford said, “and right now
work is being done on an antigen to
try to find something that could be
injected into the dog to alleviate this
type of problem.”
Sanford said that the animals used
in experiments are only subjected to
a minimum amount of stress. “We,
as a research unit, are governed by
the US DA which puts out stringent
guidelines concerning animal health
and welfare,” Sanford said. Exam
ples of those guidelines would be
space requirements for each indi
vidual animal, the amount of food
given, and the type of food that can
be used.
“We adhere to those rules
strictly, “ Sanford assured, “And on
a day to day basis the animals are
treated in a most humane way.
Once an animal has completed an
experiment, it is not turned back
into the public domain. “Some of
these animals may have had mini
mal surgery, and it is just not a good
practice to return any experimental
animal back into a household situa
tion,” Sanford said.
“The USDA requires that at the
end of procedure those animals be
terminated humanely, and they
are,” he added.
The procedure that is used by the
LARR facility to terminate the ani
mals’ life is painless.
“Depending on the animal and
species, or if a dog is small enough it
is put into a small carbon dioxide
cylinder. The effect results in the
animal going into a deep sleep.
“The centers of the brain involved
in conscious activity are depressed
quickly to the point where the ani
mal drifts off to sleep before death
occurs, so there is no pain at all,”
Sanford said.
“Some groups of people make us
(researchers) out to be monsters
with knives that do nothing but slice
animals,” Sanford said. “But, that is
not the case at all,” he added.
“We are here to provide the ut
most that we possibly can in
humane treatment for the animals, ”
he said.
College Station is fortunate in
having a facility such as the LARR.
“In some of the smaller outlying
towns the police department usually
does not have facilities for carbon
dioxide euthanasia. . . we try to cor
rect that problem by providing the
service to the local animal control
units in a humane manner,” Sanford
said.
Open 10am-9pm
Closed Sunday
693-2899
MOTHER MATURE
HOME OF NUTRITION
Culpepper Plaza
1605 Texas Ave.South
JUICE BAR
smoothies frozen yogurt
sandwiches juices
Natural Vitamins-Foods*Cosmetics
BONFIRE FUEL
from now f til Christmas . . .
to help the Ags in their fight to
beat Hell out of t.u. . . .
40c BEER
i\» t
All Domestic
Brands
3600 S. College Bryan 846-3306
I
9:00 P.M.-12:00 P.M.7
Daily /
I
*0.
Talk to
FIRST NATIONAL
about
Deferred
Compensation.
First National Bank now offers Texas A&M fac
ulty and staff an alternative to the traditional
investment vehicles for deferred compensa
tion plans.
Funds are invested in certificates of deposit
paying the maximum interest permitted by law.
Earnings are guaranteed and insured safe by
the FDIC.
There is no front-end load or commissions on
deferred compensation investments at First
National. And the program is flexible to ac
commodate near or distant retirement dates.
Before you make a final decision on your plan,
talk to First National. Get a bank that's old and
new going for you.
FUST NATIONAL BANK of Bryan
Texas at Dellwood/First Place/779-1111 Member FDIC