Madison, WI is considered by many to be the non-human primate research capitol of the world. Both Covance and UW-Madison utilize thousands of these animals in their experiments every year, conducting research into a variety of diseases which are essential to new medical discoveries – or so we are told.
But if the scientific validity of these experiments is doubted by some, the profitability of this enterprise certainly cannot be. According to the Cap Times, this research helped bring in more than $46 million in research grants in 2008-2009.
“I feel essentially that experimentation on animals is an industry driven for profit and the prestige of the research institution,” according to Al Matano, who criticized these experiments at yesterday’s County Board meeting. He was speaking in regard to his resolution which would have established a citizen panel on whether or not such research at the UW is ethical.
It’s hard to see why this measure should have proven controversial. It merely would have established a body with no official authority to investigate an issue of crucial importance to many Dane County residents. Why not let such a committee have a look and say about what’s really going on inside UW laboratories? After all, no meaningful oversight over these facilities currently exists; mostly all we have are the statements from paid researchers that these experiments are ethically justifiable and medically necessary.
But for those who believe that animals are entitled to no kind of protections, no amount or kind of persuasion is going to matter. That UW-Madison has a horrid reputation on this issue is irrelevant – they’re just animals, right?
The infamous Harry Harlow turned the university into a torture chamber during his time here (lasting into the 1970’s). One of his favorite experiments was to separate infant monkeys from their mothers at birth, watching as the baby animals were transformed into frightened, pitiable creatures in what he called “pits of despair.” He would then return to the offspring to its mother and observe. The mother usually ignored the crying baby primate, but the baby often faced much worse than neglect. According to Harlow, “One of their favorite tricks was to crush the infant’s skull with their teeth. [Others] smashed the infant’s face to the floor, and then rubbed it back and forth.”
Recently, PETA named UW-Madison the “worst animal laboratory” in the country. The USDA has documented many of these abuses, but of course, there were no consequences. Primates were reported to have been subjected to the “push-pull” method, whereby drugs are directly injected into the animal’s brain as it is locked in a restraining chair. The experiment lasts hours or even days. One animal expired as the researchers took a lunch break.
The university has also faced criticism for conducting taser experiments on pigs and not even bothering to use pain medication on many of its subjects. One UW professor, Terry Young, came out publicly in 2005 against some of these abuses in an open letter to then Chancellor Wiley. In an email exchange I had with her, she told me the impetus for her action was the cries from laboratory dogs that she could hear from her office.
Regardless of what you think about any of this evidence, it seems to make a lot of sense that local government might have a place in forming an opinion about this matter. Some Supervisors argued that the County Board doesn’t have a place in this business and that the university should be trusted to deal with it. Quite obviously, neither of these objections would have been taken seriously by anyone had we been talking about a human-related affair.
Al Matano deserves a lot of credit for taking such a courageous stand in introducing this measure. Kyle Richmond, another typically laudable Supervisor, also merits accolades for speaking in support of it. Brett Hulsey, currently running for State Assembly, argued that the UW could be trusted to oversee its own highly lucrative enterprise; for this stance, he reveals his usual taste for a safe, conservative and largely spineless politics.
