File photo of an octopus, an example of an invertebrate (Pexels)

By Justin Goulet

Petition aims to extend research animal protections in the U.S.

Jun 20, 2020 | 4:48 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A professor at the University of Lethbridge is involved in a petition aimed at expanding animal protection in the United States.

As stated in a release from the U of L, Canada was the frontrunner in developing protections for invertebrates used in research in the early 1990s. This was thanks in part to the work of professors like Dr. Jennifer Mather.

In 1991, Mather, a U of L psychology professor and octopus expert, Professor Emeritus Gail Michener and Dr. Dan Johnson, Department of Geography & Environment, were involved in a committee through the Canadian Council on Animal Care. That’s the national organization responsible for setting and maintaining standards for the ethical use and care of animals in science.

“The committee recommended that cephalopods be protected. In 1991, cephalopods were protected for research in Canada and Canada was the first country in the world to do this,” Mather said in the U of L-issued release.

Europe has since adopted similar protections; however, invertebrate animals used in research in the U.S. remain unprotected.

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Invertebrates are animals without a backbone or bony skeleton, whereas vertebrates have a spinal cord surrounded by cartilage or bone.

Katherine Meyer, a visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School, is hoping to change that through a recent petition.

It asks the National Institute of Health (NIH) to include cephalopods – octopus, squid and cuttlefish – among the animals entitled to humane treatment by those involved in NIH-funded research.

Dr. Mather is among the co-petitioners. She’s published extensively on the intelligence of cephalopods, co-editing the book ‘Cephalopod Cognition’ (2014) and served as co-editor and contributing author to the 2019 release Invertebrate Welfare.

“Intelligent invertebrates like octopuses are considered tissue in the United States. Several universities in the U.S. have made cephalopods honorary vertebrates,” she said, adding cephalopods are “as smart as vertebrates.”

“We’re pretty sure they have pain and suffering and they know what’s happening when you do things to them.”