Pound Animals

San Bernardino voters decided by a narrow margin that the City Animal Shelter should continue to sell dogs to research laboratories, final semiofficial returns on a controversial advisory measure show. Measure HH, which called for continued use of pound animals for "research, testing and educational purposes to legally accredited organizations," passed in Tuesday's election by only 113 votes, 9,290 to 9,077.

It is infuriating that the research community is so insecure that it fears even a small advance of regulation on its practices. It will concede nothing, not even when it involves a mere 1% of all research animals. Any well informed person knows that most animals that end up in shelters are put to death. The attitude that "they are going to die anyway" is just a method of skirting the real issue, which is protection of lost and homeless animals from the horrors of research labs.

A growing number of public officials in North County are voicing opposition to a policy of the county's Department of Animal Control that allows the sale of stray dogs and cats to UC San Diego for medical research.

The opposing arguments can get angrily passionate, uttered, as they are, in defense of humane treatment and prolonging life. What makes the debate over Proposition C on the Nov. 6 countywide ballot both painful and compelling is that it seems to pit science against animals that were once pets.

The practice of selling pound animals for research will continue, but opponents haven't given up the fight. Despite losing the Nov. 6 advisory vote by 68% to 32% on the San Diego County ballot, Proposition C, opponents vow to stop the county's practice of selling pound animals to the University of California, San Diego for scientific research. In fact, the vote has done little to cool passions on either side.