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Articles and Reports UCLA Experiments - Statement by Michael A. Budkie - 12 Jul 2005 Internal records from the University of California (Los Angeles)
clearly show that primates at this facility are suffering from serious
illnesses ranging from parasitic infestations to major bacterial
infections. Most often the bacterial conditions are the direct result of
highly invasive experiments performed at UCLA. The practice of
experimenting on animals that are suffering from serious pathological
conditions places serious doubts on the scientific validity of any
procedures in which they are involved. Serious concerns exist regarding the adequacy of the anesthesia used
in several of the experiments. Specifically one experiment paralyzes
primates for up to 120 consecutive hours. Additionally the stress of confinement has apparently caused at least
one primate to engage in self-injurious behavior. This is not uncommon
in laboratories that confine primates to small indoor enclosures. This
high level of stress also substantially alters the physiology of the
animals so confined such that they would not accurately represent even
members of their own species. Clearly they will provide no information
that is generalizable to humans. These experiments are part of the most duplicated area of primate
research currently funded by the federal government. Over 175 separate
grants support neural information processing experiments in macaque
monkeys. With the average grant amount form the National Institutes of
Health (the funding agency for these experiments) reaching over $400,000
the potential for waste is staggering. When all aspects of this issue are taken into account: the poor
health of the animals, the stress to which they are subjected, the
potential inadequacy of the anesthesia for the procedures in which they
are used, and the excessively duplicative nature of these experiments,
it becomes clear that this is not science. Therefore, the only realistic
motivation for the continued performance of these experiments must be
monetary.
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