Jun05
Former Animal Experimenter's Revelations on 'Slate'
Posted at 02:18 PM | Permalink
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In today's installment, Engber describes the time he spent as a grad student working on a macaque named Clayton in a university laboratory. He describes how he returned to the lab years later to find that, while his life has moved on—and out of the laboratory—Clayton is still imprisoned, his whole world limited to just two rooms:
In all the time I'd been gone, Clayton had lived in the same room, on the same feeding schedule, and with many of the same neighbors. … Every day or two, he's carted off to a room painted all in black, and his head is fixed in place by the post that still protrudes from his skull. He sits there as always, staring at targets on a computer screen. When he moves his eyes the way he's supposed to, he gets a droplet of Tang as a reward.
Engber also talks about PETA's famous Silver Spring monkeys case, which was the impetus behind sweeping changes made to the Animal Welfare Act in 1985, including the creation of oversight committees that we are currently hounding to do their jobs.
While the series of articles focuses on the use of dogs in experiments, it also describes what is done to rats and mice. That's because no discussion of vivisection can rightly avoid the elephant (or, in this case, mouse) in the room—which is the fact that most of the whopping number of animals used in experiments are these small mammals, who, for no reason other than prejudice and convenience, are still specifically excluded from the Animal Welfare Act.
We strongly recommend taking a minute or two to check out the series—and don't miss part IV, which talks about PETA's undercover investigation at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.
Posted by Alisa Mullins
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Comments
Human stem cell and skin cell research is much more productive and humane than the generally useless and always torturous maiming of animals in labs.
Posted by: Brien Comerford | June 5, 2009 09:00 PM
That is sad beyond comprehension. It is so unfair. How do they justify keeping a monkey in a cage for the duration of a lifetime? How is that possible?
This is not someone I would trust to care for my own health and well being. Someone who has no empathy for other living beings.
Posted by: Saucy | June 6, 2009 08:34 PM
This is barbaric and cruel and it must be brought to an end. Again.. what gives humans the right to do this? Nothing. Just like every other way we use and abuse animals. I am against it all!!!!!!
Posted by: carla | June 7, 2009 11:15 AM
sad to say but this type of treatment of animals will continue because of the sadists that compose a big portion of the population -
Posted by: lorraine karlquist | June 7, 2009 06:52 PM
I do wish more researchers were as conscientious as this former researcher--but it's totally unfair to label all animal reserachers as "sadists" and wholly inaccurate to say their work is useless.
Posted by: Allen Chandra | June 9, 2009 09:40 PM
It should be stoped on some way!!!!
Posted by: Irina Seifert | June 22, 2009 04:31 PM