January 16, 2014
Published in the
Letters Section
The Herald
P. O. Box 930
Everett, WA. 98206
Dear Herald:
Re:
Life and Death in the Monkey Lab, Jan. 12
Do you call Amy Nile’s article balanced journalism?? It sounded more
like an advertisement for SNBL!
Why didn’t you give Michael Budkie of Stop Animal Exploitation Now equal
space?!
SNBL’s vice president claims SNBL “embraces the same ethic that guides
medical doctors – do no harm.” A MONKEY WAS BOILED ALIVE THERE in
2008!! SNBL’s Animal Care Supervisor was fired when she told federal
inspectors that SNBL employees also were abusing primates, spraying them
with acid, and intentionally slamming them on the floor!
Previously the USDA opened a series of federal Animal Welfare violation
cases against SNBL after 19 monkeys died. At that time the USDA
spokesperson confirmed that SNBL “is on its risk list by having a pattern or
non-compliances.”
Many doctors are against animal research. The ex-director of the
National Institutes of Health, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, said in June (NIH record
6/21), “Researchers have over-relied on animal data. The problem is
that it hasn’t worked… We need to refocus and adapt new methodologies for
use in humans to understand disease biology in humans.”
Dr. Robert Mendelsohn said, “The reason why I am against animal research is
because it doesn’t work. It has no scientific value. One cannot
extrapolate the results of animal research to human beings and every good
scientist knows that.”
Dr. Charles Mayo said, “About the abuses, the cruelty, and the horror of
vivisection of living animals, I abhor it. It ought to be abolished.
I know of no achievement, no scientific discovery that could not have been
obtained without such barbarism and cruelty. The whole thing is evil.”
The Animal Welfare Act does Not apply to lab animals. No anti-cruelty
to animal laws can help them. Experimenters don’t even have to give
them anesthetics!!
If SNBL’s animal labs are so wonderful, why can’t we see them?? We
taxpayers fund them; we should be able to see the animals.
Sincerely,
Darlene Kaiser
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