Group Protests Study in Which Cats Are Shot

NEW ORLEANS —  A Defense Department research program in which cats are shot in the head to study war-related brain injuries is inhumane, scientifically flawed and unnecessary, a group of doctors said.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine last week asked Defense Secretary Dick Cheney to cancel the contract for the research, conducted at Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans.

“The study under question is superfluous and extraordinarily expensive,” Dr. Michael Sukoff, a member of the American Board of Neurological Surgeons, said in a news release from Washington.

$2-Million Contract

The $2-million contract involves shooting hundreds of cats in the head to learn how to return brain-injured soldiers to active duty, thus conserving the fighting strength of the Army, the Physicians Committee said.

According to the news release, the primary conclusion by LSU researchers is that respiration stops when the brain is wounded, a reaction the doctors said has been documented in medical literature for nearly 100 years.

“I am appalled by ‘research’ which purports to study human brain injury, but in fact only causes suffering in domestic cats,” Dr. Christopher Smith said.

The physician’s group is a national organization of 2,000 doctors who promote preventive medicine and alternatives to animal research.

Officials from LSU’s School of Medicine said the department head in charge of animal research was out of town and unavailable for comment.