Monday, August 4, 2014

Wisconsin: A Sadist’s Paradise for animal torturers in the name of science

 
 
Subject: Wisconsin: A Sadist’s Paradise for animal torturers in the name of science

Ray Cross, UW System President
Phone: 608 262-2321
Fax: 608 262-3985
1720 Van Hise Hall
1220 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Kate Wodyn, Assistant to the President

Sir, Madam:

Today, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism published an article exposing what may very well be one of the most brutal and horrific torture of animals under the guise of “research” that I have ever seen.
This is what some sadistic monsters from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Psychiatry Department have planned for “research.”

………referring to the first experiment at UW-Madison in more than 30 years that will intentionally deprive newborn monkeys of their mothers, a practice designed to impact a primate’s psychological well-being.
The research, submitted by UW-Madison Psychiatry Department chairman Dr. Ned Kalin, has drawn unusual scrutiny and dissent from within the university and intensified a debate about the extent to which benefits to humans justify the suffering of animals.

It gets even worse. If your stomach doesn’t turn after reading this you truly have no heart or empathy:
For a year these 20 rhesus monkeys, as well as another 20 used as a control group, will be given tests intended to provoke and measure anxious behavior. After one year they will all be euthanized and their brain tissue collected for molecular analysis.

In other words these INFANT monkeys will be TORTURED and DEPRIVED nurturing for an entire year and then killed.
The purpose of the experiment is to use state-of-the-art technology to examine the underlying neurobiology of anxiety and depression, which Kalin believes will lead to insights for treating struggling humans.
The ethics of animal research are often contentious, but non-human primate research at UW-Madison is especially polarizing.
There are around 2,000 primates housed and studied in several locations around campus. About two-thirds of these are at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center; most of the remainder are at the Harlow Center for Biological Psychology. The buildings stand side by side.
In a Kalin study published in 2004, the amygdalae of 14 rhesus macaques were damaged with acid after their skulls were cut open. The amygdala is a region of the brain that regulates fear and anxiety. The monkeys were then exposed to snakes and unknown humans.
Than we have a colleague of Kalin, Richard Davidson, making this false equivalency that fits right in with the sadistic nature of Wisconsin itself:
“You have to do a mental calculus to determine if it’s appropriate or not, and each scientist needs to make his or her own moral decision about that,” Davidson says. “And it’s the same thing with eating meat or wearing leather. You know, the Dalai Lama eats meat.”

Does the arrogance of humanity know no bounds?
These are the kind of Mengele style experiments that are being conducted at our public universities?
What kind of monster thinks that ANYTHING good will come from this?
You don’t need to be a research scientist to know what happens when the vast majority of mammals are deprived of the basic nurturing and care that they receive from their mothers.
I make no secret that I am an animal welfare advocate and oppose any and all forms of cruelty but this goes far beyond.
This goes into the realm of torture for tortures sake.
For an entire year these baby monkeys will be tormented, deprived nurturing, and then killed?
For what? So some narcissistic egghead can confirm that tortured and deprived social animals suffer depression? Wow. Will he then get his name in a scientific journal and “justify” a reason to continue receiving grant money for his “experiments?”

All animal testing is disgusting but this goes far far far beyond that. This is pure sadistic torture and all supporters of the UW should be disgusted by this no matter what side of the political aisle you are on.

Sincerely: 


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