Animal Advocates Call on UBC to
Halt Brutal Experiments on Monkeys
by STOP
The London-based BUAV and
STOP
discovered that UBC researchers were subjecting monkeys to electric
shocks to
induce seizures, blinding monkeys by severing their optic nerves and
causing
painful increases in pressure within the animals' eyes, and inserting
tubes
into the abdomens of pregnant monkeys to inject foreign material into
their
fetuses to cause kidney damage.
The fetuses were later killed.
Leading international authority on animal
experiments
joins Stop UBC Animal Research
in campaign against UBC's research on
non-human
primates
The
animal
advocates said it is likely the monkeys felt "pain and terror" during
some of the experiments.
"British
Columbians need to ask themselves if they are really willing to close
their
eyes to the torment and despair suffered by these animals,
let alone
to fund this type of research through their tax
dollars
and charitable donations," said Anne Birthistle, an investigator for
Stop UBC
Animal Research who helped uncover UBC's experiments on monkeys.
"How do
we teach our children compassion when we force animals to
endure
a life of traumatic use in a laboratory? We have to demand that
new,
cutting-edge scientific techniques be used and relegate to the past these experiments
UBC finds too shameful to fully disclose to the public," Birthistle said.
A BUAV veterinarian, along
with
STOP, who reviewed the UBC studies found that:
*Six rhesus macaques were
deliberately given electric shocks. Electrodes were applied to their
heads
through which the shocks were given, apparently to cause seizures. For
this the monkeys were only given a sedative and a drug to paralyze them.
There
was no mention of pain relief. The sedative would not cause complete
loss of
consciousness and inability to feel and, therefore, the concern is
whether they
were capable of feeling pain and terror. Because they were paralyzed,
they
would not have been able to show outward signs of suffering. The animals
were
also subjected to the unpleasant consequences of repeated doses of
anesthesia.
There is no mention of what happened to the monkeys.
*Six rhesus macaques were
deliberately blinded in one eye by cutting the optic nerve and allowed
to live
after this brutal mutilation. A second group of monkeys had one eye
deliberately damaged by laser to cause a painful increase in pressure
known as
glaucoma. The animals were allowed to survive this surgery and kept
alive,
without pain medication, for weeks before being killed.
*Three pregnant rhesus macaques were
used, probably off-campus at a facility in the US. A tube was inserted
into the
abdomen of the monkeys and then into the fetus where harmful particles
were injected into the
kidneys to cause damage. A few weeks before the fetuses would have been
born, the mothers were subjected to abdominal surgery, the fetuses then
removed and killed after which tissues were collected.
"Non-human primates are
highly
intelligent and sensitive animals. It is unacceptable that they should
be
subjected to such shockingly cruel and invasive experiments," said Dr. Nedim Buyukmihci,
Emeritus
Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California-Davis
and
Veterinary
Consultant to the BUAV. "Moreover,
despite
the suffering and tragic loss of life, the findings in the monkeys are
not
relevant to humans. Elegant and sophisticated methods exist currently to
study,
in an ethical manner, human patients in an effort to gain knowledge that
will
be of benefit to them," Buyukmihci said.
Though some of the
experiments were
performed by UBC researchers off the university’s campus, STOP and BUAV
said
the university was sanctioning cruel, invasive, and ultimately, lethal
procedures. The organizations also said the experiments are not only
unethical, but the researchers are vainly attempting to artificially
induce
in the
monkeys simple symptoms of what are complicated diseases and conditions
in
humans. The groups said UBC should instead be focusing on non-animal
methods that are
not only
humane, but are also far more applicable and relevant to humans.
For immediate release
RESOURCES:
To
obtain copies of the published papers referenced in the above release,
as well
as a more detailed analysis of UBC’s primate research, contact Stop UBC
Animal Research at
605-551-3324 or at stopubcanimalresearch@gmail.com
The BUAV has been
campaigning for
over 100 years to achieve a world where nobody wants or believes we need
to
experiment on animals. The BUAV is widely respected as an authority on
animal
testing issues and is frequently called upon by governments, media,
corporations
and official bodies for its advice or expert opinion.
Please visit our website
at: http://www.buav.org/
Stop UBC Animal Research is a
community grassroots campaign that employs peaceful, legal, and
compassionate
approaches to educate the public about the grim realities of research on
animals at the University of British Columbia and to ultimately bring
about an
end to research on animals at UBC.
Please visit our website
at: http://stopubcanimalresearch.org/
--
Stop UBC Animal
Research is a community grassroots campaign that employs peaceful,
legal, and compassionate approaches to educate the public about the grim
realities of research on animals at the University of British Columbia
and to ultimately bring about an end to research on animals at UBC.
Please visit our website at: http://stopubcanimalresearch.org/
