The Plight of the Oregon Monkeys

by Matt Rossell and Leslie Hemstreet
August 2001

Abuse Exposed!

The Oregon Regional Primate Research Center (ORPRC) of the Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) has been taking a well-deserved beating in the Oregon and national media over the past year.

This was the result of two "whistle-blowers," one a primate technician and the other a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Welfare Act inspector, coming forward at an In Defense of Animals press conference in August 2000.

This infant is one of many deprived of their mother's love and kept isolated in small cages

Painful evidence of animal cruelty includes video footage of ORPRC's electro-ejaculation procedure, in which technicians electrocute the penises of fully conscious male monkeys to obtain semen samples.

Other video, secretly taken by myself (Matt Rossell), depicts monkeys driven mad by isolation and maternal deprivation, attacking their own bodies and inflicting serious injuries.

More than a dozen abnormal behaviors result from housing monkeys alone in cages little more than two by two feet (0.6 by 0.6 meters) for their entire lives.

Bored and lonely, many monkeys in labs pull their hair out, smear and eat their feces, and circle and pace neurotically awaiting the next experimental procedure.

For more details about the Oregon Regional Primate Center, please check this web site:

http://www.vivisectioninfo.org/ohsu/

USDA in Collusion

Dr. Isis Johnson Brown, Oregon's former USDA inspector, quit in frustration because her superiors refused to support her efforts to uphold the Animal Welfare Act.

She stated:

The USDA inspection system is comprised of a "good old boy" network that blatantly defies federal laws which, even if they were enforced, are too ineffectual to protect the animals. More than once, I was instructed by a supervisor to make a personal list of violations of the law, cut that list in half, and then cut that list in half again before writing up my inspection reports. My willingness to uphold the law during my site visits at the Primate Center led to me being "re-trained" several times by higher-ups in the USDA. I recognize the system is not set up to protect the animals but instead the financial interests of the research labs.

Criticism From Within

ORPRC administers inhumane care by any standards, including those of primate researcher Carol Shively, who was hired by the OHSU to review their programs at ORPRC. Shively called electro-ejaculation "inhumane" and criticized the lack of social housing--more than 1,200 monkeys are housed alone.

Dr. Shively stated,

The consensus of the scientific community is that these monkeys are dependent upon their social relationships for their physical and psychological well-being.

Shively also stated that depriving primates of social housing causes pathological behavior such as pacing, self-aggression, and hair-plucking to the point of nudity.

That¹s what happens to animals that have evolved to be social when they are singly housed. It¹s entirely preventable.

"Model Institution"

So what does the Oregon Primate Center have to say in its defense? OHSU Provost Leslie Hallick calls their Primate Center a "model" for the industry. If Oregon is a "model," what does that say for the other seven Regional Primate Research Centers -- and all the other primate labs?

Perhaps it tells us that the Oregon Primate Center demonstrates the standard neglect and inhumane treatment found nationwide?

Capuchins Freed!

Through local campaigns and as a result of the criticism of the local media, we were able to free 22 capuchin monkeys. They were released to zoos where they are now breathing fresh air, getting produce, feeling the sun, and, best of all, living together in groups for the first time in more than 20 years.

We wish we could produce the same "happy ending" for all the ORPRC monkeys.

CALL TO ACTION Through coordinated grassroots action and a coalition of national and international advocacy groups, we can look forward to the day when these horrific experiments are put to a stop and when all of the animals are retired to sanctuaries. Here is what you can do to help the thousands of monkeys living at the eight U.S. federally-funded primate centers. Readers living in the United States, please get out your pens and write your representative and senators (listed at www.congress.org) to express your concern over the fate of U.S. laboratory primates. Request a congressional investigation into the ethical practices of all the centers. Ask that a congressional oversight committee investigate the weak enforcement of the US Animal Welfare Act, especially the extremely serious allegation by Dr. Isis Johnson Brown that she was repeatedly asked to ignore violations of the Act and to rewrite her inspection reports, deleting most of the violations. Note that the whole world is becoming aware of the waste of taxpayer dollars and of the suffering of the wonderful animals at the Oregon Primate Center and other laboratories. Let them know that you think the public deserves access to all information about what is going on inside Oregon's publicly funded Primate Center, and comment that additional oversight is necessary to improve conditions internally and eliminate what we believe to be ludicrous and redundant research. Addresses: (Name of your representative) House of Representatives Washington DC 20515, USA (Names of your senators) Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510, USA Readers living outside the United States should communicate their concern to the US Ambassador in the US Embassy in the capital city of their country of residence. If you would like to start a similar campaign in your area or want to use information and images from this campaign, please contact Matt Rossell or Leslie Hemstreet at primates@aracnet.com