Ban Chimp Testing

[n2doc]

The testing began shortly after Bobby’s first birthday. By the time he was 19 he had been anesthetized more than 250 times and undergone innumerable biopsies in the name of science. Much of the time he lived alone in a cramped, barren cage. Bobby grew depressed and emaciated and began biting his own arm, leaving permanent scars.

Bobby is a chimpanzee. Born in captivity to parents who were also lab chimps, he grew up at the Coulston Foundation, a biomedical research facility in Alamogordo, N.M., that was cited for repeated violations of the Animal Welfare Act before it was shuttered in 2002. He is one of the lucky ones. Today he lives in a sanctuary called Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Fla., where he can socialize and roam freely. Last year the National Institutes of Health announced plans to put some 180 ex-Coulston chimps currently housed at the Alamogordo Primate Facility back in service, to rejoin the roughly 800 other chimps that serve as subjects for studies of human diseases, therapies and vaccines in the U.S., which is the only country apart from Gabon to maintain chimps for this purpose.

Public opposition is on the rise. In April a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill, the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, to prohibit invasive research on great apes, including chimps. And when the NIH announced its plans for bringing the Alamogordo chimps out of retirement, objections from the Humane Society, primatologist Jane Goodall and others prompted the agency to put the plans on hold until the Institute of Medicine (IOM) completes a study of whether chimps are truly necessary for biomedical and behavioral research. The IOM project itself has been criticized: the NIH instructed it to omit ethics from consideration.

In April, McClatchy Newspapers ran a special report based on its review of thousands of medical records detailing research on chimps like Bobby. The stories painted a grim picture of life in the lab, noting disturbing psychological responses in the chimps. Then, in June, Hope R. Ferdowsian of George Washington University and her colleagues reported in PLoS ONE that chimps that had previously suffered traumatic events, including experimentation, exhibit clusters of symptoms similar to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in humans.

more

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ban-chimp-testing

[RKP5637]

1. K&R!!! n/t

[Speck Tater]

2. But look at what happened when we let an untested chimp into the White House! nt

[tblue37]

3. I am actually hoping that _Rise of the Planet of the Apes_ might sensitize at least some

more people to the plight of these poor creatures.

[Autumn Colors]

5. See "Project Nim" if you haven't already

That story is TRUE. We saw this documentary at the local arthouse place here and there was a Q&A with the woman who was Nim's first teacher (as well as the oldest daughter in the family - now grown up).

This is the story of a chimp that was raised (as an experiment) by a human family as if it were a human infant and it was taught sign language. It's an amazing, but tragic story.

Well worth the viewing. We went to see "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" soon after that ... sort of like "The revenge of Nim".

Trailer here:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1835048217/

[aikoaiko]

6. I really want to see Project Nim. As a behaviorist we learned all about the research but not ...

...the rest of the story.

[dhill926]

4. K&R.......

[Gregorian]

7. I've seen hell.

I still cannot believe that when I was around 15 years old, I spent time in what we called "the dog lab". There were other buildings that housed monkeys or chimps. What went on inside these Veterans Administrative Hospital buildings was horrific. But what I cannot believe is even as someone who was a very sensitive person, I was unconscious of the grave suffering going on around me.

These animals were made sick. They were made to have faulty mitral valves. I'll always remember the open heart surgery. The so-called "heart in a bag trick". I don't even recall exactly what it was, other than an early study of transplantation.

I couldn't visit a place like that now without recoiling in pain. It always interests me how someone can be anesthetized to a situation. I was. I had an interest in life. I wanted to be a surgeon.

Can you imagine a animal so much like ourselves, that was meant to have a great social life, and be free to live in the forest, being stifled in a tiny cage with nothing at all to do. Sick. Sometimes I think people wonder about me when I post on this forum. Some of the things I say sound like they come from a cold hearted person. No, I'm very clear what is going on behind the scenes in our name. We need to tone this growth down. Population needs to come down. Consumption needs to come down. We've made huge progress for humans. But it's time to look at this with a different perspective.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

10. This is what religion does to people.

This is uncivilized and wrong. I blame ignorance and Christianity for the fifth class citizenry of animals who are smarter than we are being treated this way.
Duckie

[tblue37]

13. People should read some books by Daniel Quinn, especially _Ishmael_ and

The Story of B. You especially would like them, I think.

[deaniac21]

8. George wasn't very good at tests. We should not ban.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. "Dude, we made it!"

If you haven't seen this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDGz_ud-KBE
you Must!!

[MoonRiver]

11. It's horrific and unconscionable.

k&r

[saras]

12. If NCLB is good enough for our kids, it's good enough for chimps

I think the Meyers-Briggs would get more enlightening results, though.

What you're describing isn't testing, it's torture.

[flvegan]

14. K&R!

[joeybee12]

15. Absolutely...knr

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. The war against science continues