Research Methods in Life Sciences Commons^™

The Issue Of Science And The Issue Of Care, Andrew N. Rowan

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

Dr. Edward Taub, Director of the Behavioral Biology Center of the Institute for Behavioral Research, was, on

November 23, 1981, found guilty of 6 counts of cruelty to animals. Dr. Taub has cried "victimization" and has attempted.

(with some success) to rally researchers to his defense. However, scientists should beware of taking up this case as a cause celebre. Taub was not being tried because his research was cruel (and hence unjustified); he was being tried because his laboratory was grossly unsanitary and did not provide adequate veterinary care. According to one respected laboratory animal veterinarian, the conditions were …

The Silver Spring 17, Andrew N. Rowan

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

On November 23, 1981, in a Maryland District Court, Dr. Edward Taub was found guilty under a Maryland state anti-cruelty statute of not providing adequate veterinary care for 6 of the 17 monkeys confiscated from his laboratory two months earlier. The case has received extensive press coverage and caused widespread alarm in the scientific community. According to Science (274:121, 1981 ), "scientists throughout the country have been shocked by the Taub case, initially perceiving it as a bid by antivivisectionists to procure a court ruling against animal experimentation." Taub has fostered this impression and has drawn a false analogy between …