Students, staff and faculty at ASU should not share any enthusiasm for the building of a lab in Chandler by the company Covance. In fact, anyone concerned about public health, environmental protection, traffic congestion, real estate values, or animal welfare should strongly oppose the building of this facility.
I acknowledge that animal testing is conducted, but nowhere does the law stipulate that animals being used in drug tests be slapped, shook violently, or thrown against cages; nowhere does the law demand that primates be kept in barren cages with nothing to occupy their minds; nowhere does the law require that sick animals be used to test drugs.
In fact, the law expressly prohibits all of these abuses, which have been documented inside Covance's labs.
Covance was recently cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 16 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act for abusing dogs and monkeys used in testing.
The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine predicts that the proposed Covance facility in Chandler would have an estimated animal population of 241,300 each year.
Moreover, Covance is the largest U.S. importer of wild-caught primates (over 12,000 in 2005, according to a Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine report).
These primates harbor a variety of pathogens that can cross the species barrier and infect humans. This is not just a speculative matter.
Covance has imported three shipments of Ebola virus-infected monkeys to the U.S. One incident from Reston, Va., became the basis for the book "The Hot Zone."
The potential concerns for public health are staggering.
There is also another concern: Should, God forbid, a calamity equivalent to the Ebola virus strike in a Covance lab in Chandler, what would that mean for Chandler real estate values?
I recently learned about what appears to be Covance's 30-year history with big tobacco companies, which has been implied through previously confidential documentation released after a tobacco settlement.
According to the report, Covance, then known as Hazleton, forced beagles to inhale smoke in 1978.
The beagles did not develop lung cancer, although the lab's methodology has been criticized in the Inhalation Toxicology journal - and similar studies were used by tobacco companies to fight consumer lawsuits.
Not surprisingly, a tobacco front group paid for the study.
Covance presents itself as a company that cares about people and that wants to bring "miracles to market."
However, Covance's seemingly longstanding relationship with big tobacco companies paints a very different picture - one of a company that cares about profits more than it cares about humans and animals.
As if that's not enough, what are Covance's plans for disposing of hazardous waste - such as animal waste, blood and carcasses?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' videotapes, obtained from an undercover member of the organization then employed by Covance, show cages being flushed with high-power hoses into drains.
The company could subject hundreds of thousands of animals to drugs and chemicals not yet determined safe.
Will this waste be washed into our sewage system?
Just imagine the effect this lab could have on our water supply.
In 2000, Covance tried to set up in the city of Alameda, Calif.
Covance's reputation as an unethical company resulted in vociferous protests that eventually had the company packing its bags and retreating.
Now, it seems that Covance is hoping Arizona residents won't be careful in scrutinizing the lab and we will complacently accept any company no matter what the consequences.
I think we are smarter than that.
Erin Maupin is a senior studying
nonprofit management and public affairs. She is also the president of the Animal Welfare Association on campus, and can be reached at: erin.maupin@asu.edu.
