ORANGE : Animal Research Supporter Stirs Ire

A UC Irvine professor speaking at Chapman College about the benefits of animal research drew an angry response from a handful of protesters who attended the Thursday presentation.

Bob Phalen, a professor in community and environmental medicine, outlined a series of complex human diseases--including cancer, AIDS and mental illness--in which medical breakthroughs have been credited to research using animals.

He noted that researchers have also helped cure animal diseases and tested the safety of pet-care products.

Phalen called animal rights activists, who on one occasion picketed his home, “people who are emotionally polarized and . . . who use intimidation, arson and theft to realize their beliefs.”

In early 1988, an animal rights groupstaged a well-publicized, middle-of-the-night raid on Phalen’s UC Irvine laboratory and stole 13 of 19 dogs that were part of a study documenting the effects of smog on children.

During a question-and-answer session after Phalen’s presentation, his views were challenged by several members of organizations opposed to animal research but who rejected being labeled animal rights activists.

Britt Lind, representing People for Reason in Science and Medicine, a Woodland Hills-based organization, said her group is based on the theory that the effects of substances or medical procedures tested on animals cannot be applied to humans.

Phalen’s lecture before an audience of about 50 was scheduled in response to the recent screening of a film produced by an anti-animal research group. The on-campus screening, attended by 16 people, was sponsored by a fledgling campus organization called Students Against Vivisection.