Over 52,000 primates (chimpanzees, rhesus monkeys,
baboons, squirrel monkeys, etc.) are experimented on every year in the
United States. Another 43,000 are imprisoned in labs for breeding and
conditioning. This brings the total number of primates held captive in
laboratories to almost 100,000.
Many of these primates experience horrible conditions.
Government documentation has revealed primates dying of dehydration,
wasting diseases, hepatitis, encephalitis, and many other severe
illnesses.
The experiments to which these intelligent animals are
subjected are extremely cruel. Many primates are confined to restraint
chairs for extended periods. Other primates suffer through the throes of
withdrawal from addictive drugs. Devices are often literally bolted to the
skulls of primates using steel screws. Infants are ripped away from their
mothers and driven insane. This list of abuses only scratches the surface.
These intelligent social animals also suffer terribly from
isolation. Approximately 35% of the primates housed in labs undergo some
level of social isolation. Solitary housing has been shown to cause
psychologically aberrant behavior in primates within laboratories. In
fact, as many as 10% of isolated primates engage in self-injurious
behavior, biting and tearing at their own flesh.
It is crucial that all of us work together to educate the
public about the horrors of primate experimentation. We must do everything
we can to change this situation now.
Remember one thing: the primates who are suffering in
laboratories as you read this letter are depending on us to work together
to fight for their freedom. We must exercise our rights (free speech,
freedom of assembly, etc.) so that we can fight for the recognition of
their rights. They have no voice but ours. They have no protection, no
hope, unless you act. For every activist that does nothing, more primates
suffer and die.
The decision is yours. You have the choice of doing
nothing, but your decision has consequences for the primates. Your
inaction condemns primates to suffering and death. Your hard work can
bring their freedom closer.
Please go to the SAEN website:
www.saenonline.org and sign
on to participate in National Primate Liberation Week 2005 - October 15th
- 23rd. We will provide with every resource at our disposal to make your
event a success.
Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T.,
Executive Director, SAEN
Go on to The ASPCA
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