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Newsletters A Tale of Two Laboratories -- Masquerading as Science Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SAEN) has recently exposed terrible
abuses of primates within two of our nation’s largest laboratories --
the National Primate Research Centers that are affiliated with the
University of Wisconsin (Madison) and Harvard. The results of our
investigations are compiled in two reports which are available on our
website. Collectively, these laboratories confine and experiment on roughly
3200 primates per year. Together, they spent $278 million on primate
experimentation during the 2002 - 2003 reporting year. Every year these facilities are required to report on their
activities to the agency which provides the bulk of their funding, the
National Institutes of Health (NIH). These reports have been the basis
of our investigations. We have also utilized medical records for the
primates confined within the University of Wisconsin, Madison. These two laboratories are a part of the National Primate Research
Center System which also includes laboratories in: San Antonio, TX
(Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research); Davis, CA (University of
California Davis); New Orleans, LA (Tulane); Seattle (University of
Washington, Seattle); Atlanta, GA (Emory); and Portland, OR (Oregon
Health Sciences University). Wisconsin Primate Research Center The Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) housed
approximately 1500 primates during the reporting period for May 2002 –
April 2003. The majority of these primates are rhesus macaques and the
second largest group is marmosets. The primate center brought
$62,139,601 in funding (primarily from the NIH) to the University of
Wisconsin, Madison. The report filed by the Wisconsin facility contained many very
puzzling pieces of information. WNPRC reported 147 primate deaths to the
NIH, but provided 157 primate necropsy reports (post mortem
examinations) to SAEN as a response to a document request. The report
filed by the WNPRC with the NIH listed no macaque monkey births during
the reporting period. However, necropsy reports for primates aged: 1 day
(3x), 2 days, 1 week, 2 ½ weeks, and 1 month (2x) were provided to SAEN
in response to the same document request. Unless some breeder is in the
habit of shipping one-day-old primates, WNPRC has filed an inaccurate
and misleading report. The progress report also lists no deaths among
infant/juvenile marmosets. However, WNPRC provided necropsy reports for
40 marmosets in the 1 day – 1 month old category. It is quite apparent that the primates at the WNPRC are extremely
stressed. Five of the 157 primates who died during this period were so
severely stressed as to have begun to engage in self-mutilation --
including one male marmoset who had chewed off 40% of his tail. 54.3% of
the macaques who died exhibited gastro-intestinal tract diseases, while
64% of the marmosets exhibited similar pathological conditions. The
marmoset colony had an infant mortality rate of 58.1%. The pathological conditions the WNPRC primates suffer from include:
enteritis, encephalitis, meningitis, peritonitis, lymphosarcoma,
hepatitis, etc. Twenty-three primates (rhesus or marmosets) were either
markedly thin or emaciated at death. This indicates that theses animals
were allowed to progress to an excessive level of debilitation as a
result of disease (this was not the result of any experimental
protocol). This calls into question the adequacy of WNPRC veterinary
care. Several of the more unusual deaths (i.e. encephalitis, meningitis,
etc.) were caused by experimental procedures that opened the skull
and/or attached head caps on the skulls of primates. Some of these
animals had openings in their skulls which left the brain visible. The severe stress level of the primates at WNPRC can, in many cases,
be attributed to the experimentation in which the animals were used.
Several of these projects deliberately subjected the animals to stress
by removing young animals from the care of their mothers. However, these
projects are not large enough to account for the severely heightened
stress levels in the macaques and marmosets caged at WNPRC. The only
conclusion that can be drawn is that the laboratory environment itself
is the underlying cause. The severely elevated stress levels exhibited by the inmates at WNPRC
are sufficient to have altered their bodily chemistry such that these
animals would respond to situations differently than would their
free-ranging members of their own species. These primates would not
accurately represent animals of their own species, let alone human
beings. New England Primate Center The New England National Primate Research Center (NENPRC)
imprisons/experiments on approximately 1700 primates per year. This
laboratory brings just over $215 million per year to Harvard. It is apparent that the condition of the primates at the NENPRC is
cause for great concern. The psychological well being of these animals
is a major issue with over 370 primates (rhesus and squirrel monkeys)
exhibiting psychologically abnormal behavior. It is highly possible that
these unfortunate primates are being maintained in a purposely stressed
condition, so that they may serve as subjects in one of ten separate
experiments at NENPRC which deal with psychological pathology including
self-injury. The instances of psychological abnormality within the
NENPRC squirrel monkey population is most likely directly related to the
use of these primates in addiction experiments which can involve
confinement to restraint chairs, the use of electric shock, and/or drug
withdrawal. The overall infant mortality rate at NENPRC may be as high as 55%,
with 144 spontaneous abortions or neonatal deaths taking place in one
year. Also, the vast majority (159) of the marmosets within the
experimental colony of the center died during the last reporting year,
primarily from disease. Of the 417 NENPRC primates who died and were necropsied during the
2002 - 2003 reporting year, 189 died of disease, 179 died during
experimentation, and another 49 deaths remain unexplained. This equals
more than one primate death every day of the year! The only conclusion that can be drawn from these issues is that the
primates at the NENPRC are highly stressed animals with significant
instances of both physical and mental illness. The issues raised in our
report must cast doubt on the quality of veterinary care given to the
primates within this laboratory. The high number of animals who die during experimentation must also raise
serious concerns as to the invasiveness of the experimentation. The
psychological needs of many of these animals are also apparently being
ignored to insure the existence of a population of mentally aberrant
primates for use in experimentation. We Need Your Letters Even though our overall goal is the closure of these laboratories, we
must begin with a governmental investigation. Please write to these legislators to request that they launch
congressional investigative hearings to examine conditions within the
eight laboratories which constitute the Primate Research Center System.
Don’t forget to use our website for details to include in your letters.
The Honorable Michael Bilirakis The Honorable Jon Kyl
Return to
Vol. 3, No. 1 -
Spring/Summer 2004 |
