Archives

In the short documentary film The Real Planet of the Apes, Betsy Brotman, an American researcher who spent 30 years conducting tests on chimps, says, “The animal rights activists were right. Chimpanzees really shouldn’t be used in experiments. I really do feel this way.” (see 13:30 in video below) From 1974 – 2005, Ms. Brotman ran a research institute in Liberia that conducted experiments on more than 100 chimps.

Chimpanzee Research Center in Liberia

In her interview, Ms. Brotman says, “There are certain instances where it would be very difficult to do the research without chimps unless you use humans.” She is referring to the development of a hepatitis B vaccine, which her colleague says could only be tested on chimps, as no other species is susceptible to the virus.

Betsy Brotman Studied Chimps in Liberia for 30 years

Since this research was conducted, science has advanced, eliminating any scientific rationale for using chimps. But Steve Wise, the founder of the Nonhuman Rights Project, isn’t taking any chances. In an effort to free all captive chimps, he is leading the legal battle to classify chimps as persons – instead of inanimate objects – on the grounds that they, like people, they desire things, act in an intentional manner to acquire those things, and have a sense of self. If Mr. Wise is successful, holding chimps captive in any setting will be illegal.

Here’s a short NY Times documentary about his quest to reclassify chimps as “persons” instead of “things.”

Today, sixty chimps, most of whom recovered from the diseases with which they were infected at the research center, live on “Monkey Island” near Monrovia, Liberia’s capital.  The chimps live freely in a somewhat natural habitat, and The New York Blood Center pays for their care.

Former lab monkeys, Monkey Island (photo: liberiana.wordpress.com)

In the past week,  the organization Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) has uncovered egregious acts of violence against animals by lab workers at three different universities. In all three cases, SAEN has filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture asking for penalties and/or for the studies to be terminated.

Here’s what SAEN’s uncovered by combing through records:

At The University of South Florida (USF), lab workers deprived monkeys of water, leading to at least one death.

At Oregon Health & Science Univsersity (OHSU), an animal caretaker was exposed for repeatedly punching a pig in her face, drawing blood. Within a week of her arrival, the pig was killed in a “terminal procedure.”

Protesters block OHSU animal research site in 2010 (photo: Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian)

At Washington University in St. Louis, a lab technician with “a history of rough handling of animals” was exposed for punching a dog with “a closed fist.”

After a busy week exposing the lab abuse and filing complaints, SAEN’s Executive Director Michael Budkie reflected on the individuals for whom he is fighting: “As if being caged in a lab and subjected to painful experiments isn’t bad enough, these animals are often victims of gratuitous abuse — abuse that is rarely exposed because of the extreme measures taken to hide the truth. But SAEN will continue to use all tools available to us to shine a spotlight on these abusive facilities until they’re shut down for good.”

SAEN’s recent victories

As expected, all three of the universities issued statements claiming that they “place a high priority on the proper care and treatment of research animals” and that “mistreatment of any research animal is not tolerated.”

In 2012, In Defense of Animals (IDA), another organization that works to end laboratory abuses, released the findings of a two year undercover investigation at OHSU. Here’s what they exposed then is consistent with the abuses that continue today:

Please visit www.SAENonline.org to learn more about these incidents and find out what small steps you can take to be a voice for animals who are held captive and used in painful, unethical, redundant and unnecessary laboratory experiments.

Animal rights activists are accustomed to being harassed and threatened during protests, but the worst abuses are rarely caught on camera because they are usually random acts – a punch thrown; a shove; someone spitting, etc.

From left to right: Vigil participant, UCLA researcher

On January 18th, however, activists with Progress for Science recorded several harrowing minutes of bullying and physical intimidation — by academic researchers, no less. On that day, 11 activists holding a peaceful vigil to honor 11 monkeys being abused for redundant and needless government-funded research in UCLA labs were met with viscous attacks by counter-protesters.

This video, which has been seen by only 11,100 people, should have gone viral when it was first posted – not only because of the shocking behavior of the UCLA researchers, but also because of the bravery of the activists. They courageously put themselves in harm’s way – on behalf of the animals who were being harmed.

The video also inadvertently teaches an important lesson: As activists, we must keep our rage in check because outbursts and aggression, shown by the experimenters in this case, shift attention away from the animals, which is where the spotlight should shine.

Please visit Progress for Science to help bring an end to the archaic animal experiments being conducted at UCLA.

In an opinion piece criticizing Pamela Anderson for opposing the ALS Association’s ice bucket challenge because the organization funds animal testing, the New York Post made no mention of why Ms. Anderson and “39 percent of Americans say medical testing on animals is morally wrong.” In fact, the Post attempts to discredit her by portraying her opposition as merely philosophical while stating that the benefits of animal testing are real.

The movement to ban animal testing isn’t philosophical; it is based on a frantic desire to stop animals from being tortured in labs. In her statement regarding the ALS ice bucket challenge, Ms. Anderson wrote: “In recent experiments funded by the ALS Association, mice had holes drilled into their skulls, were inflicted with crippling illnesses, and were forced to run on an inclined treadmill until they collapsed from exhaustion. Monkeys had chemicals injected into their brains and backs and were later killed and dissected.”

Some scientists maintain that animal research is necessary; others argue that it’s outdated and irrelevant to humans. Animal rights say it’s unjustifiable. But can all sides agree on one thing — that imprisoning animals in small cages for their entire lives, depriving them of everything that comes naturally to them and conducting painful experiments on them constitute torture? When making a decision about whether or not to support animal testing, shouldn’t people be equipped with that baseline knowledge?

If chimpanzees used in medical experiments had the power to switch places with and conduct tests on their captors, wouldn’t the researchers demand to be released on moral grounds? Wouldn’t they hope and pray that others rescue them?  If so, then they should follow the golden rule: Do unto others, animal cutters!

Humans are an arrogant bunch.  We think we are so superior to every other other species that we can do whatever we want to them, but aren’t we the only species that is destroying the planet?

One statement in the NY Post article (inadvertently) acknowledges the need for the animal rights activists like Pamela Anderson: “It’s fine, maybe even admirable, to strip naked to urge humane treatment of pets, combat cruel factory-farming or oppose unnecessary animal testing (as in the cosmetics industry).” The Post editors and mainstream society will eventually oppose all animal testing; they just don’t know it yet.

Primera Management, a company that cannot be traced, is attempting to build a large monkey breeding facility in Central Florida over objections of the State Senator who represents the area. Monkeys from Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa, will be transported to the facility in Hendry County, where they will be bred and sold to laboratories. Animal Defenders International released footage of monkeys in Mauritius being abused, though Primera insists that their monkeys will come from a different, unnamed source. Citing health, safety and animal care concerns, the Senator is demanding a public hearing with all stakeholders, including the Center for Disease Control.

Who is behind this primate breeding facility? Who is accountable if monkeys escape or disease is transmitted? Given the environmental and land-use issues associated with a 3,000 monkey facility, why is it being constructed without so much as a public hearing? As a starting point, please thank Florida State Senator Dwight Bullard for attempting to stop the construction of this facility until the community has answers. And stay tuned for more information as advocacy groups put together the pieces of the puzzle.