Date
September 1, 2006
Contact
Rita Anderson
(303) 527-3372
or
(303) 618-3227
In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner Blvd
San Rafael
CA 94901
IDA is an international, California-based animal advocacy organization dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by defending their rights, welfare and habitats.
In Defense of Animals Applauds Transfer of Monkeys to Sanctuary
Animal Protection Organization Lauds CU Regents for “Doing the Right Thing”
Denver, Colo.—After a years-long battle to convince the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) to end the use of primates in alcoholism experiments and transfer the monkeys to a sanctuary, members of the Committee for Research Accountability (CRA), a Project of In Defense of Animals (IDA), are celebrating the relocation of eleven bonnet macaque monkeys to a Texas sanctuary.
The monkeys, who range in age from infants to 20 years old, have all lived at UCDHSC since birth. They were the subjects of widely criticized maternal separation and alcohol studies led by researcher Mark Laudenslager.
“We’re delighted for these animals who have suffered loss and deprivation for years at CU,” said Elliot M. Katz, DVM, president of IDA. “They have lived most of their lives in a 100 year-old basement which did not even meet federal standards and will finally be able to live in the relative freedom of a sanctuary without the fear of being subject to cruel, ludicrous experiments in the name of so-called ‘science.’ There they will be able to feel the sun on their backs and the grass under their feet for the first time in their lives.”
CU has been under fire since Laudenslager’s maternal separation experiments ended in October 2003. Earlier this year the University raised public ire when approximately 37 bonnet macaque monkeys were sent to Wake Forest University (WFU) in North Carolina. The monkeys at WFU will continue to be the subject of CU Laudenslager’s experiments to determine if poor mothering is a contributing factor to alcohol abuse in adolescent monkeys. Documents obtained by IDA indicate that Laudenslager will continue to conduct his studies long-distance from CU in Denver, even though the primate subjects of his experiments will be 2,000 miles away.
“We are grateful that CU is doing the right thing by sending these monkeys to a sanctuary,” said Rita Anderson, Director of CRA, which spearheaded the campaign. “In this day and age with modern research technologies and years of clinical studies, to attempt to addict monkeys to alcohol in archaic ‘research’ is frivolous and unacceptable. We hope this will be the end of all primate research at UCDHSC.”
For more information please visit www.FreeTheCU34.org.