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Having served as a member of the Board for
nine years, I am fortunate to have been elected
President of PSYETA. Our Board most
recently met at the June '96 March for the
Animals in Washington, DC, at which time I was
welcomed to office and our past President and
Cofounder, Manny Bernstein, was honored. Manny
has made important and significant contributions
to the animal rights movement and tour
profession. In the early '80s, he showed the
insight and commitment to realize the need for
an organization of psychologists to work on the
concerns being raised about humans' treatment of
other animals. I hope to build on his
compassionate leadership.
Lorin Lindner has been elected Vice
President, having served on the Board since
1992. She brings to her new office a clear
understanding of our organization as well as a
long history of effective animal and
environmental work. I am thrilled to have the
opportunity to work with someone with such
highly qualified "activist" credentials. Lorin
and I have already begun to network to increase
our visibility and membership, to outline a clear
and expanded organizational structure, and to
develop new and exciting campaigns and programs
by which to accomplish our goals. Sensitive to
the needs of an organization with a 16-year
history, we want to build on what is already in
place as we creatively reach into new areas.
Susie Burt is PSYETA's part-time
Director of Development. She is responsible for
building and maintaining liaisons with other
organizations, leaders and donors who desire to
help via financial support. Her role is critical
to insuring the future of PSYETA. Her
professionalism and enthusiasm are proving to be
two of our greatest assets. To best do her job,
Susie needs the support of every single one of
us. Raising funds to do our work is a difficult
task indeed. Yet, as we reach out, the interest
which so many are showing in our projects and
goals makes our efforts quite rewarding.
And finally, the hard work of Executive
Director, Ken Shapiro, and Office Manager,
Margaret Carpenter, continues and remains a key
to our strong foundation. From the merging of
what is old and true with what is possible and
needed, we promise to show you, our members, why
your supports is one of the most effective ways
in which you can contribute to ending violence
toward, and the suffering of, animals.
I, and all of us at PSYETA, promise to
work diligently to move PSYETA into being
all that we can be. Exciting and important
new programs and campaigns are ready to go. Your
participation and continued support is needed. I
look forward to serving PSYETA and the
animals we are all dedicated to helping.
Sincerely yours,
Theo Capaldo
This past September, I met with a group of
enthusiastic PSYETA members in California
who expressed desire to play a more active role
in our Culture of Violence campaign. They were
particularly excited by our plans to make a
video, which is one of the campaign's core
elements.
We know that you share our sorrow and anger
when you hear about incidents of animal abuse,
domestic violence, child molestation, and other
violence in our society. What can we do to make
a difference? PSYETA believes the video is
a place to start. Our psychologists are well
qualified to communicate knowledge about violent
behavior. We can also suggest intervention
strategies and treatment programs.
We encourage you to be a part of the creation
of this significant educational tool. We are
currently working with a production team to
design and develop the content of the video and
its intended audience and distribution. We
welcome your ideas, expertise, energy and
participation.
We have still not raised the funds we need to
make the video a reality! Please join our West
Coast members who, after hearing about the video,
are reaching out to their friends, families,
and associates and asking them to contribute as
well. If you would be willing to raise the funds
on our behalf, please contact me. I will work
with you to develop appropriate materials.
Finally, we would like to thank all our
members for their support over the years. Our
very special thanks to the following for their
generosity during 1996:
-
Michael Tobias, director and producer, for
offering post-production services for the
video.
-
Carol Holub and Frank Bruno for helping to
sponsor our Social Hour at the March for the
Animals
-
Jean Bayard for funding a successful
mailing to recruit new members
-
Rachel Rosenthal, acclaimed performance
artist, for offering to donate her talent to
raise funds for the video
-
Charlote Cucean for her time, ideas and
enthusiasm
-
Nedra Lasley, and Peter and Leigh Norton,
for their long-standing support of PSYETA
Susie Burt
Marjorie Cramer is a plastic surgeon.
She has written and spoken extensively on the
subjects of ecofeminism and the negative human
health implications of animal experimentation.
Susan Curtiss is a clinical
psychologist in private practice. She
specializes in crisis intervention and is
interested in vicarious traumatization in the
animal rights activist community. She is also a
trainer/consultant in peak performance
development and individual growth.
Barbara Orlans is a Senior Research
Fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at
Georgetown University. She has written numerous
books and articles on pain classification and
the use of animals in research.
Mary Lou Randour is a clinical
psychologist in private practice. She has
written widely on psychoanalysis and women's
issues, and is currently writing a book on
spirituality and the treatment of animals.
 A
newly opened pharmaceutical company in central
England is the first to test drugs exclusively
inhuman tissue. Pharmagene, based in Royston,
opened in October, 1996, and relies heavily on
the samples from Europe's first human tissue
bank, which opened earlier this year. Donors can
offer tissue to the bank after death in the same
way that they donate organs.
On a similar note, the Karl-Frazens
University in Graz intends to become the first
animal-free educational institution in Austria,
according to a report in ALTEX. The University
will actively seek to develop new non-animal
methods of research, in accordance with Austrian
law which obliges thepromotion of such methods.
Internationally renowned scientist and former
New York University (NYU) researcher Jan Moor-Jankowski,
M.D., filed suit in U.S. District Court in New
York against NYU. The lawsuit alleges that NYU
covered up "scientific misconduct and fraud" and
retaliated against Moor-Jankowski in violation of
federal whistle-blower protection laws.
As reported in the February '96 PSYETA
Newsletter, Moor-Jankowski was fired as director
of NYU's Laboratory of Experimental Medicine and
Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) after blowing the
whistle on former NYU primate addiction
researcher Ron Wood. With respect to Wood's
"junkie monkey" experiments, NYU was charged by
the USDA with hundreds of violations of the
Animal Welfare Act and assessed a record $450,000
fine.
The USDA recently cleared NYU of illegal
retribution against Moor-Jankowski, even though
its investigative arm reported the NYU had clearly
retaliated against him in violation of federal
law. Hence, the USDA is also named in the
lawsuit for abuse of process and failure to
uphold federal law.
The unprecedented lawsuit was filed on behalf
of Moor-Jankowski and also Louis Dinetz,
former Assistant Director of LEMSIP and a
decorated Vietnam veteran, and seeks over $20
million compensation for the plaintiffs.
Moor-Jankowski, a member of the prestigious
French Academy of Medicine, said that he sued to
set an important precedent: "If I, an
internationally recognized scientist, could not
secure the protection offered under federal law,
how can anyone -- not to mention younger,
lesser-known scientists -- dare to expose
scientific misconduct and the misdeeds of corrupt
administrations?"
Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Labs,
Inc. (CAAL), a Brooklyn, New York-based
organization, won a significant victory in New
York State Supreme Court, against the State
University of New York (SUNY) in May '96. Justice
Joseph J. Dowd ruled that certification records
identifying the sources of dogs and cats used for
medical research at SUNY's Health Science Center
in Brooklyn are available to the public under the
state's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).
Section 2158 of the Animal Welfare Act,
passed in 1990 in response to public concern
over pet theft, requires dealers who supply
random sources of dogs and cats to research
institutions to provide the institutions with
certifications stating the name of the persons
or pounds from which the dealer acquired the
animals. In response to the disappearance of
dogs in the Brooklyn area, CAAL had requested
SUNY's certification records under FOIL, a
request with which SUNY refused to comply.
Despite the passage of Section 2158, public
concern over the fraudulent sale of pets to
research laboratories has become stronger in
years. In response to this concern, two bills
were introduced in the U.S. House of
Representatives in may to again amend the Animal
Welfare Act. The Family For Protection Act (H.R.
3393), introduced by Representatives Jon Fox
(R., PA), and Tom Lantos (D., CA), and the Pet
Safety and Protection Act (H.R. 3398),
introduced by Representatives Charles Canady (R.,FL)
and George Brown (D.,CA) prohibit Class-B
"random source" dealers from providing animals
to research institutions. Class A dealers, who
breed animals specifically for research, are
not affected by either bill.
The following summary of 1996 events of which
members of our staff/Board of Directors
made presentations or participated.
March
APA Committee on Animal Research and Ethics
Environmental Law Conference -- University of
Oregon Summit for the Animals
Detroit Health Department Conference on Violence
Press Conference on "Pets in Housing"
Legislation
April
Pain/Distress Classification Group
June
March for the Animals Steering Committee
PSYETA Social Hour -- March for the
Animals
October
National Association of Biology Teachers
Congress on Alternative and Animal Use in the
Life Sciences
Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals --
University of Toronto
New England Psychological Association Convention
Culture of Violence featured topic on Mouth of
the Merrimack television program,
Northern Massachusetts
Regular Participants
International Foundation for Ethical Research
Science Advisory Board
Alternative Research and Development Foundation
Science Advisory Board
Toxicity Testing Standardization Committee
The Animals' Agenda, Board of Directors
Political Action Working Group |
