Beth Oates Addresses Burden of Transportation Restrictions on Research Animals

During Beth Oates' fellowship with FASEB, she was the point-person who drafted, edited and fielded input from scientific societies regarding commercial airlines restrictions on animal transportation. The letter was sent to the Chief Science Officer, Robert Hampshire, PhD, and Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg in June and had over 90 signatures including various science organization like American Society for Microbiology, American Association of Immunologist as well as industry companies like Pfizer, Charles River Laboratories and The Jackson Laboratory. The letter has been in circulation and was linked within a Nature article on US funding using non-human primate models. Back in 2018 after pressure from animal rights groups, commercial airlines implemented restrictions on animal transportation to restrict shipment of any animals used in research. The National Association of Biomedical Research (NABR) filed a complained with the Department of Transportation (DOT). DOT opened the complaint for comments and their decision is still ‘pending’. Now with the new administration and the hiring of a Chief Science Officer within the DOT, a position that has remained vacant for over 40 years, NABR and Federation of American Societies for Experimental Research collaborated on a sign on letter that restates the issue of animal research discrimination, the burden of financial and additional restrictions placed on researchers, as well as the ethical implications of travel on animal welfare. Congratulations, Beth, on a job well done! DOT letter: https://www.aspet.org/docs/default-source/advocacy-files/dot-letter-6-25-2021.pdf?sfvrsn=41fc66d3_0 Nature article: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01894-z