AR-News: We owe the CU primates freedom

Sun Feb 22 20:10:16 EST 2004

From:primfocus at waste.org

http://www.bouldernews.com/bdc/guest_opinions/article/0,1713,BDC_2493_2671506,00.html

We owe the CU primates freedom
By Rita Anderson <<guardianship at aol.com>>
February 21, 2004

I write in response to Clay Evans' Feb. 15 column, "Don't monkey with CU's
grants" (Insight). I feel strongly that 34 monkeys at the University of
Colorado Health Sciences Center should be immediately released to a
sanctuary.

For 17 years, UCHSC's Dr. Mark Laudenslager used macaque monkeys in
maternal-separation experiments to analyze what happens when an infant is
separated from his/her mother. Some of these monkeys were then sent to the
Washington Regional Primate Research Center to be injected with the simian
version of HIV to determine if a 2-week separation at age 6 months later
compromised their immune systems at age 3 to 4 years. These infected monkeys
were all killed at the end of the experiment.

In the last six years alone, this experiment was funded with $2.5 million
dollars from the National Institutes of Health. Fortunately, after many
years of public scrutiny, Dr. Laudenslager's project recently ended.

We've all been led to believe that medical research is necessary "for the
health of humans." What human health benefits can be gained from separating
infant monkeys from their mothers? The infamous Harry Harlow did terrifying
maternal deprivation experiments repeatedly in the 1950s and 1960s.
Scientists have studied Romanian orphans and told us that babies simply
don't thrive without nurturing. How many more projects are needed to tell us
what we already know? Are these intelligent beings simply going to be used
and reused in more questionable research?

Imagine yourself as the 36-year-old monkey who was snatched from her home in
the wild, only to be forced to live her life in a strange, unnatural setting
and having no choice but to submit to the whims of her human captors, day
after day, year after year. Picture the 31 monkeys who were born in CU's
breeding colony, peering through the bars of the cages, wondering what acts
those approaching human hands may subject them to next. Can you imagine the
18-year-old bonnet macaque who has been there since the day he was born,
knowing his life exists only as an object of unknown terrors?

UCHSC officials have said they would consider the release of the animals for
a price of $10,000 to $15,000 per animal, a potential total of $510,000.
They say this would be the replacement cost if monkeys are needed for future
research. In the meantime, however, UCHSC is committing approximately
$136,000 per year for their care even though they are not currently being
"used."

A Sept. 5, 2001 e-mail written by Dr. Laudenslager states, "The vet is a
little anxious about being stuck with them in two years and having to
euthanize the colony." If they are considering killing the animals, why are
they reluctant to release them? A sanctuary has been found which is willing
to care for them for the remainder of their lives. It will be necessary for
animal advocacy groups to use the money they raise to pay for the costs of
building new enclosures as well as to contribute to the future care of the
macaques rather than paying CU for their release. If keeping the monkeys is
simply about money and grants for CU, or as Evans stated in his column,
"keeping a few Ph.D's and grad students in beans," then perhaps it is time
to question CU's reasons for keeping the monkeys around.

Ethics should always be a key factor when there are lives involved, be they
human or non-human. These primates have served their time and deserve to
spend their remaining years enjoying a life free from fear and emotional or
physical pain. They should be released and retired immediately without a
price tag on their heads. We must then remain vigilant and closely
scrutinize any future research that is contemplated by CU and paid for with
your taxpayer dollars.

Please call upon your own sense of reason and compassion and contact CU
President Elizabeth Hoffman at elizabeth.hoffman at cu.edu or (303) 492-6201 to
ask for the immediate release of these monkeys.

Rita Anderson is with the Committee for Research Accountability, a project
of In Defense of Animals. She lives in Boulder.

the wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. he is in front of it - axel munthe

"Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world. 
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."      Margaret Mead
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