Aspinbeganavigorousprotest,supportedbyantivivisection
societies. Advertisementswere placed inmajor newspapers
across thecountry. Letters from an outraged public began
pouringin.AnaidefromtheHouseofRepresentativesArmed
Services Committee said that the committee had received
moremailonthebeaglesthanithadreceivedonanyother
subjectsinceTruman sackedGeneralMacArthur, whilean
internalDepartmentofDefensememoreleasedbyAspinsaid
thatthevolumeofmailthedepartmenthadreceivedwasthe
greatesteverforanysingleevent,surpassingeventhemailon
the bombings of North Vietnam and Cambodia.^5 After
defendingtheexperimentsinitially,theDefenseDepartment
thenannouncedthatitwaspostponingthemandlookinginto
the possibility of replacing the beagles with other
experimental animals.
Allthisamountedtoacuriousincident—curiousbecausethe
public furor over this particular experiment implied a
remarkableignoranceofthenatureofstandardexperiments
performed by thearmed services, research establishments,
universities,and commercialfirms ofmanydifferent kinds.
True, the proposed air force and army experiments were
designedsothatmanyanimalswouldsufferanddiewithout
anycertaintythatthissufferinganddeathwouldsaveasingle
humanlifeorbenefithumansinanywayatall;butthesame
canbesaidofmillionsofotherexperimentsperformedeach
yearin theUnitedStatesalone.Perhaps theconcernarose
becausetheexperimentsweretobedoneonbeagles.Butif
so,whyhastherebeennoprotestatthefollowingexperiment,
conducted more recently:
UnderthedirectionoftheU.S.ArmyMedicalBioengineering
Research and Development Laboratory at Fort Detrick, in