United we stand !

Some important news caught my eyes recently and I felt it was important to share this with you:

• The subject of animal rights extremists is of concern to most of us and airlines as we know are not immune to pressures exerted by these entities. On June 11th-12th 2012 FASEB hosted a summit on combating animal rights extremism. You can read the press release here.

Here are some of the topics discussed:

• acts of extremism,
• update on current tactics of animal rights groups,
• the threat imposed by extremists internationally,
• engaging the public about the importance of animal research.
• Panel discussions on how to use legal and regulatory outlets to protect against extremism
• What individuals and organizations can do to prepare against extremism.

The second day focused on preparing communication strategies on the benefits of animal research and preparing for and mitigating animal extremist actions. These recommendations will form the basis for a guidance document to be published by FASEB. Stay tuned for the final document.

• From the same source at FASEB an update on the use of Chimps in research was received by the NIH Council of Councils. As above you can read the update here. 

I am taking the liberty of reproducing the text for those of you that want to follow the links and to be aware of what research is taking place and where it is at on some disease aspects (ex HIV etc.):

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Working Group on the Use of Chimpanzees in NIH-Supported Research provided an update to the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) Council of Councils at a meeting on June 5^th. Charged by the Council of Councils with developing a plan to implement the recommendations in the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) report on the use of chimpanzees in biomedical and behavioral research, the Working Group is in the midst of evaluating NIH-funded projects using chimpanzees, visiting chimpanzee facilities to observe current practices, and consulting with experts in various fields in order to draft their report. They have also reviewed all of the responses to their recent Request for Information, which elicited 110 comments (23 of which were from organizations including the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology and 56 were form letters). The Working Group will provide the Council with its initial recommendations in September and submit the final report at the January 2012 meeting followed by a 60 day public comment period. Slides from the Council of Councils meeting can be found here.

That's it for me folks and thanks for reading!