Separating Infant Monkeys From Their Mothers
Contact: Rita Anderson - 303.618.3227
Barbara Millman - 303.274.4889
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center researcher
Mark Laudenslager -- featured on national animal rights websites for his
maternal separation experiments -- has ended his 17-year study, the
Committee for Research Accountability recently learned.
The mission of the Colorado-based Committee for Research
Accountability (CRA) is to end taxpayer-funded research on animals that
is unnecessary and inhumane. Directed by Rita Anderson and Barbara
Millman, CRA is a project of In Defense of Animals, a 20-year old animal
rights group headquartered in Mill Valley, California.
In maternal deprivation experiments, started in the
1940s, researchers permanently separate infant monkeys from their
mothers in order to analyze their psychological and physiological
responses. By studying monkey infants' suffering, they believe they can
predict how human children respond to inadequate parenting. However, it
is already well documented that human infants fail to thrive without
proper nurturing.
Since 1986 Laudenslager has conducted experiments in
maternal separation with millions of dollars funded by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). (In maternal separation, unlike maternal
deprivation, the young are returned to their mothers after a specified
period of time.) Laudenslager claimed his most recent study, Behavioral
and Physiological Consequences of Loss, would show if inadequate
parenting had an effect on the progression of AIDS symptoms in HIV
positive children.
In his experiments, Laudenslager sent two groups of
three to four year-old monkeys -- one of which had been separated at an
early age from their mothers -- to the University of Washington
Regioonal Primate Research Center. Once there, both groups were injected
with the Simian version of the HIV virus (SIV). After that, the monkeys
were isolated in individual cages where they were monitored for the
progression of symptoms of the Simian version of AIDS (SAIDS).
Dr. Pat Haight, IDA's Southwest Region Coordinator and
an experimental psychologist, said, "In my opinion, questions regarding
the relationship between parenting factors and the course of pediatric
AIDS should be studied in the children and their families. The clinical
literature itself says this is needed."
IDA president and veterinarian Elliot Katz said, "If a
vote was taken for which 'research' project needed to end because of its
animal cruelty and waste of tax dollars, Mark Laudenslager's mother
separation experiments would win hands down."
"I'm thrilled that Professor Laudenslager has decided to
end this project which subjected so many innocent monkeys to lives of
fear, hopelessness and despair," said CRA's Rita Anderson. "We are
hopeful that our organization can begin to work with CU officials to
explore the many non-animal research options available.
Go on to Senate Okays Ban On Downed Animals
Return to 9 November 2003 Issue
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