More than two dozen animal-rights activists were arrested at the National Institutes of Health Tuesday after they stormed a police barricade during a demonstration protesting the use of animals in medical research, an NIH spokesman said.
Twenty-seven protesters were arrested by Montgomery County police and NIH security officers when they tried to enter a building where animals are housed, said NIH spokesman Bob Shreiber.They were all charged with trespassing and six of them face additional charges of assault, resisting arrest and disobeying the order of a police officer, said Shreiber.
The arrests came during a two-hour protest by several hundred animal-rights activists. It was part of a nationwide commemoration of World Animal Liberation Day.
Protesters carried signs that read: "Animal Research Is Hazardous to Your Health," and "Stop Using Fear of Disease for Your Fraud."
"Because of animal research children die," said Trish Tereskiewicz, a member of the group Friends of Animals. "The money being used to support animal research could be used to build treatment centers. There are a thousand babies born each year addicted to cocaine."
A small group of counterdemonstrators, members of the group Incurably Ill for Animal Research, stood quietly near the activists and passed out leaflets.
"We represent patients in this country who stand to suffer if (animal) research is stopped," said Steve Carroll, 35, of Chicago, who said he suffers from an incurable bone disease.
"It scares me," said Len Koch, a diabetic and the organization's chairman. "They're trying to take away treatment that could help me."
Signs plastered to the windows of the facility defended the use of animals in research.
"Children live, thanks to animal research," one sign read, while another read: "Save a rat, use an activist."
A long banner spanned several windows and read: "When someone you love dies of an incurable disease, remember the activists and their legislators who stopped animal research."
But animal-rights supporters argue that computers and an emphasis on theoretical research rather than applied research could eliminate the use of animals.
Close to 40 percent of the research projects performed at the Bethesda location involve animals, according to Schreiber.
A dozen protesters were arrested exactly a year ago after breaking through the doors of NIH's main administration building.