Let’s Talk About Monkeys

Two Monkey Stories. First an institute is going to discontinue using chimps for research:

After pressure from The Humane Society of the United States, Gilead Sciences has agreed to end the use of chimpanzees in research. The move comes after the animal-rights organization two months ago submitted a shareholder proposal urging the biotech to phase out the use of the primates in its medical research.

At the time, Gilead declined to respond to questions about the proposal or its use of chimpanzees. However, the Humane Society says the biotech reached out afterwards to maintain that chimpanzees were not currently being used for research and committed to refrain from doing so going forward. The decision is effective immediately.

If they aren’t using them, and can use a lower animal for similar research this is a very good move. This is one of the key ethical legs of animal research. Do as much research in-vitro on things like cell cultures, and then try to use animals of a biologically lower position whenever possible. Also reduction of numbers is a key factor. If you can get a statistically significant result with a cohort of 25 mice, don’t use 100 mice, and if you can accomplish the study using dogs or pigs, don’t use primates. Of course the Humane Society is against all animal testing, so I don’t trust them at their word.

Now onto airline refusing to ship research primates.

After more than a year of pressure from animal-rights activists, United Airlines has agreed to halt shipments of primates to or from medical research laboratories anywhere in the world. The decision means there are no longer any North American carriers that will transport primates for research purposes into the US or Canada.

In fact, only four carriers – Air France, China Eastern Airlines, Philippine Airlines, and Vietnam Airlines – continue to transport primates destined for experiments, according to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which had been pressuring United Airlines for more than a year to adopt the policy.

“It will be much harder for cruel experimenters to get their hands on monkeys to abuse now that United has joined every other commercial airline in North America in refusing to deliver primates to certain suffering and death in laboratories,” says PETA senior vp of lab investigations Kathy Guillermo. “PETA will continue to pressure the few overseas airlines—now numbering only four—that continue this inhumane practice.”

Nice, yeah I do medical research on animals not because it furthers human knowledge on health and development of new medicines and treatments for serious deseases, it just because it hurts animals and I LOVE that! BULLSHIT!

As I said above, institutions do all they can to limit primate research. Its not only ethical, but its cost-effective, still primates provide some VERY valuable animal data to medical researchers, and cutting off the supply chain will not only hurt research, but force the research to be done in other countries, often countries where the research may not be as easily trusted.

h/t Mrs. Weer’d

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2 Responses to Let’s Talk About Monkeys

  1. Teke says:

    How about PETA members volunteer to take their place.

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