tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50012668944967142372024-03-13T08:43:09.899-07:00Ethics and AnimalsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-68548426133179154302013-06-14T11:31:00.004-07:002013-06-14T11:31:57.859-07:00Why Aren't More Animal Studies Folk in the Academy Vegan?Last month, I gave a talk at UC Berkeley at a conference called <i><a href="http://cstms.berkeley.edu/current-events/funny-kinds-of-love-the-ethics-and-affects-of-human-animal-relationships/">Funny Kinds of Love: The Ethics and Affects of Human-Animal Relationships</a></i> hosted by the <a href="http://cstms.berkeley.edu/">Center for Science, Technology, Medicine & Society</a>. My brief twelve-minute talk, titled <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r3gE3t8Ijs">"Eating Animals: A 'Funny' Kind of 'Love'"</a>, is up on YouTube. Have a look. And while you're at it, have a look at my friend <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/dept/MTL/cgi-bin/drupal/person/vasile-stanescu">Vasile Stanescu</a>'s talk, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nndAHEgwRmM">"Why Loving Animals is not Enough: A Feminist Critique"</a>. Enjoy!
RCJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17059326972634029611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-79857876077300160732012-10-13T12:42:00.004-07:002012-11-16T06:50:15.912-08:00New Maternal Deprivation Research at U of Wisconsin<style>
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<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">Last month I gave a talk at
the University of Wisconsin at the invitation of the <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/education/campus_connection/campus-connection-what-should-the-limits-of-uw-madison-animal/article_88c27e10-fdea-11e1-bc3f-001a4bcf887a.html" target="_blank">Forum on Animal Research Ethics</a>. This forum has hosted a variety of speakers who discussed different
aspects of animal research. I spoke about animal research and the limits of medicine.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">I focused on the ways
that</span><span style="font-family: Optima;"> ethical questions are inseparable from scientific
questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Values are implicated
in what we do, particularly when suffering is involved (and I talked about both
human and non-human suffering). Importantly, just because something is
scientifically justified doesn’t mean it is ethically justified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If an NIH panel decides to fund an
experiment that doesn’t necessarily mean it is an ethically justified
experiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In general, NIH panels
tend to defer to the judgments of IACUCs (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees) on ethical questions.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">But if an <a href="http://www.newappsblog.com/2012/10/guest-post-by-lori-gruen-on-renewal-of-maternal-deprivation-research-at-madison.html" target="_blank">IACUC approves</a> an experimental protocol
does that mean it is ethically justified? </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">Some at UW think so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, there is one experimental protocol that I learned
on my visit was recently approved by not one, but two ACUCs, that I think is
not ethically defensible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
protocol is now part of the public record and I have had the chance to carefully
review it. (go <a href="http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/13310619/459752273/name/kalin_2012_mat_dep_protocol.pdf" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: Optima;"> and <a href="http://www.madisonmonkeys.com/doc_barn/grad_closed_12-12-11_maternal-dep.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> are the minutes of one ACUC meeting.)</span> </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b2Rjj3GDIfs/UHnDHj1zRRI/AAAAAAAAAGs/YZvWCui-Fzo/s1600/Picture+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b2Rjj3GDIfs/UHnDHj1zRRI/AAAAAAAAAGs/YZvWCui-Fzo/s1600/Picture+6.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">The research in question is a new type of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">maternal deprivation research</b> designed
to study anxiety by creating adverse early rearing conditions and then exposing
the maternally deprived young monkeys to a snake and other frightening stimuli.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The monkeys will be killed after the
experiment is over and their brains will be studied. I believe this experiment
is unethical and I also think it violates the spirit, if not the promulgated
regulations, of the Animal Welfare Act which explicitly requires that the
psychological well-being of primates be promoted (not intentionally destroyed).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">There is no doubt that
people who suffer from anxiety disorders suffer considerably and finding a way
to alleviate this suffering is a noble end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it isn’t at all clear that the proposed monkey
model will help alleviate human suffering, in part because it isn’t clear that
the monkey model is adequate.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">Consider the results of a <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16480.abstract" target="_blank">recent study</a> that found distinct differences
in myelin development in humans compared to our closest genetic and
evolutionary relative, the chimpanzee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Myelin </span><span style="font-family: Optima; mso-bidi-font-family: Optima-Regular; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">allows the developing brain to build
connections that are necessary for cognitive function, including the regulation
of emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Myelin development
happens early in chimpanzee brain development and later in humans, and it is at
this time, according to researchers, that humans are vulnerable to
neuropsychiatric disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
the brains of our closest primate relatives are so different than our own,
macaque monkey brains will be more profoundly different. </span><span class="cit-sepcit-sep-after-article-ahead-of-print-date"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Optima;"></span></i></span><span class="cit-sepcit-sep-after-article-ahead-of-print-date"><span style="font-family: Optima;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span class="cit-sepcit-sep-after-article-ahead-of-print-date"><span style="font-family: Optima;">In addition, this approved maternal deprivation experiment, by the
researcher’s own admission, does not replicate the adverse conditions that
children face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Dr. </span></span><span style="font-family: Optima; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">Sujatha
Ramakrishna, M.D. </span><span class="cit-sepcit-sep-after-article-ahead-of-print-date"><span style="font-family: Optima;">a pediatric psychiatrist told me, she “</span></span><span style="font-family: Optima; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">sees many
patients in our</span><span style="font-family: Optima;"> </span><span style="font-family: Optima; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">offices who
have grown up under “adverse” conditions, and they are hardly a uniform set.
There</span><span style="font-family: Optima;"> </span><span style="font-family: Optima; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">are a wide variety of stressors
that traumatized human children have to deal with, including</span><span style="font-family: Optima;"> </span><span style="font-family: Optima; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">various types of abuse and neglect, and these can never be
replicated with any kind of accuracy</span><span style="font-family: Optima;"> </span><span style="font-family: Optima; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;">using animal
models.” </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">Even if there were a
promising benefit to be found, there is a second question that needs to be
answered in order to determine whether these experiments are ethically <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>justified -- is there no other way to
achieve the benefit?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
case of this maternal deprivation experiment, there are many obvious ways to
minimize the human suffering that results from anxiety disorders<span style="font-family: Optima;">. If children are suffering from early adverse rearing conditions,</span> social
programs that work to prevent <span style="font-family: Optima;">this</span> adversity<span style="font-family: Optima;">, </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Optima;">f</span>or example, programs
that teach young mothers parenting skills; programs that help fight drug
addiction; programs that provide affordable access to prenatal and early
childhood healthcare; affordable childcare programs that can also monitor
adverse exposures; as well as adult services for parents to address alcoholism,
anger management, and provide job training<span style="font-family: Optima;">, could all directly help.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having such services more readily available can prevent the
psychological harms that arise from childhood trauma and would have other social
benefits as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In tough
economic times, the provision of such services generally fall on charities that
are already overburdened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">When federal tax-payer
dollars go to fund animal experimentation, these funds cannot be used in other
ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine how much real good
the funds that UW researchers have <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>used causing monkeys anxiety for 30 years could have done
directly serving those children who suffer so greatly and have very limited
access to care and assistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Researchers
claim there is a moral imperative to conduct primate research to help prevent
human suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I agree there is
a moral imperative here to help children who are suffering. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But research that involves creating
monkeys and intentionally damaging their psychological well-being will not help
these children and it will use valuable resources that actually could go a long
way towards helping people who suffer from anxiety live better lives.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">UPDATE: More on the i<span style="font-family: Optima;">s<span style="font-family: Optima;">sue <a href="http://www.newappsblog.com/2012/10/guest-post-by-lori-gruen-on-renewal-of-maternal-deprivation-research-at-madison.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;"><span style="font-family: Optima;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">Si<span style="font-family: Optima;">gn a <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/paul-m-deluca-jr-provost-university-of-wisconsin-madison-investigate-acuc-approvals-of-maternal-deprivation-experiments?share_id=taDmqqKFNf&utm_campaign=mailto_link&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition" target="_blank">pe<span style="font-family: Optima;">tition to the provost<span style="font-family: Optima;">.</span></span></a></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;"><span style="font-family: Optima;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">There is a facebook group for <span style="font-family: Optima;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/UWNotInOurName" target="_blank">UW a</a><span style="font-family: Optima;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/UWNotInOurName" target="_blank">lum</a>.</span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Optima;"><span style="font-family: Optima;"><span style="font-family: Optima;"><span style="font-family: Optima;">Another blog pos<span style="font-family: Optima;">t<span style="font-family: Optima;"> <a href="http://onesharedplanet.org/?p=371" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></span> </span></span></span></span> </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-29487620012204824332012-07-02T18:55:00.000-07:002012-07-02T18:55:26.541-07:00Chimp attacks, a birthday, and a passing<style>
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There has been a lot of discussion of chimpanzee aggression this past week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A baby
chimpanzee was killed in front of zoo visitors by a male chimpanzee at the LA Zoo
and a graduate student who had just begun working with chimpanzees was
horrifically attacked by two male chimpanzees at Chimp Eden in South
Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Journalists and much of
the general public are shocked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most people familiar with chimpanzees are responding to the shock by
explaining that chimpanzees are stronger than humans, that aggression is a part
of their natural behavioral repertoire, that chimpanzees are not domesticated and will
never be “tamed.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think there is more to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The aggressors are <b>captive</b> male chimpanzees who have not yet
mellowed with age (some older male chimpanzees can be remarkably caring and
sweet – but no one should let their guard down around them nonetheless. This is one
especially sweet old guy, Keo, who turned 54 this week. He is the oldest male chimpanzee in captivity).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="spotlight" src="https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/165798_10150906145952742_781295072_n.jpg" style="height: 333px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 500px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keo at the Lincoln Park Zoo (c) Steve Ross</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Captivity is stressful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the best captive conditions are stressful, and from
what I gather, both the LA Zoo and Chimp Eden are among the places that really
take chimpanzee well-being into account.<span>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One very serious stressor for chimpanzees is being exposed
to new people, whether those people are unfamiliar humans or chimpanzees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At zoos, having new people constantly in one’s
environment is a significant stressor. The stress level
during introductions between chimpanzees is always high, and a new baby
inevitably causes shifts in group dynamics, which also adds to the
tension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add zoo visitors
gawking and oohing and ahhing at the new baby and, well, the sad outcome at the LA Zoo could
have been predicted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that it was predictable,
doesn’t mean it is the same as infanticide in the wild.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one really knows enough about
infanticide in the wild.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe one
cause is stress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To point to infanticide
in the wild as an explanation for what happened at the zoo, seems simplistic
and wrong-headed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span></span>Captive
chimpanzees engage in very different behavior than wild chimpanzees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To take just one obvious example, no
one would walk among captive chimpanzees in the way that primatologists have
been doing at field sites throughout Africa for decades. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps that slippage contributed to the tragedy at Chimp
Eden, where the young graduate student was horribly mauled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This incident also involved a lot of
new people and territorial issues with captive chimpanzees. The student was new
to the facility, he was lecturing to visitors to the sanctuary, and he was
standing in an area (with his back to the chimpanzees?) where he should not
have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, chimpanzees are aggressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But captive chimpanzee aggression is different than wild
chimpanzee aggression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be
interesting to learn more about each.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Aggression is just one part of captive chimpanzee
behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another big part of
their behavior is their compassion, courage, wisdom, and humor. And in some rare
circumstances it makes sense for those who know them very well to interact directly
with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what Gloria
Grow did when beloved Pepper was dying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m glad she was able to be with Pepper in this way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a tribute to the depth of their
relationship and Pepper’s profoundly “good” nature that Gloria was able to intimately
hold her as she left this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please read her memorial tribute <a href="http://faunachimps.tumblr.com/post/26373838867/pepperupdate" target="_blank">here</a>. RIP Pepper.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.newanimalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Pepper.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-329" height="320" src="http://www.newanimalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Pepper-1024x1024.jpg" title="Pepper" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pepper (c) Frank Noelker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-84782531265257163192012-04-16T11:08:00.008-07:002012-04-16T16:12:21.544-07:00Chimpanzee the Movie<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdxR5kKiv1c&feature=player_embedded"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 230px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NiALwKvsgcU/T4xgxODA29I/AAAAAAAAAFo/47L5iCCnsnw/s320/Chimpanzee-movie-poster-%25282012%2529-picture-MOV_306ce0e7_b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732062824436390866" border="0" /></a>I saw the movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Chimpanzee</span> during the Environmental Film Festival at Yale. Visually it is absolutely stunning and I hope people will see it for that reason alone. I ran into a colleague on the way into the theater and she said she thought she would see me at the "cheezy chimp" movie. I actually thought it wouldn't be "cheezy" and I was wrong. It is a Disney film after all and it is aimed at young people. But the story is based on the <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0008901">real altruism</a> of adult male chimpanzees who have adopted orphans as observed by Christophe Boesch and his team in the Tai Forests in Cote d'Ivoire.<br /><br />The audience was filled with youngsters and I have to confess I felt joy hearing the children in the audience laughing as the young chimpanzees on the screen laughed and played.<br /><br />But I did experience a tad bit of discomfort at times watching the audience react to the film. As many of us are working hard to end the use of chimpanzees in entertainment, I think this film walks a fine line. It is designed to entertain and chimpanzees are the entertainment.<br /><br />So I think it is crucial that at every opportunity people who are talking about the film remind film watchers that no part of this film used captive chimpanzees, that chimpanzees are endangered in the wild, and that they need our help. I wish there was more information available in the theater for movie goers who are interested in learning more about ways to help chimpanzees. I'm going to go to see the film again during the first week (portions of the proceeds from admission will go to <a href="http://www.janegoodall.org/chimpanzee-movie">JGI </a>projects) and bring some flyers. Maybe the theater will keep the extras for other shows.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-18196099196055979672012-01-30T21:01:00.001-08:002012-01-31T10:05:31.373-08:00Chimps "read" books, chimps aren't books!<a href="http://chimphaven.org/"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 197px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DQ4Fhof-2Hw/Tyd11dqKOqI/AAAAAAAAAFc/tenCowR-Q4c/s320/Harperreading_AF-e1326491646830.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703657014442998434" border="0" /></a> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.Default, li.Default, div.Default {mso-style-name:Default; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:black;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">I love books.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">I don’t know any academic who wouldn’t say that they don’t at least respect and admire books.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">We even defend books.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">My University has to cut some titles from the library to make more room for other, newer books and there has been a passionate discussion about the value of the volumes we have and how important it is to protect them.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);" class="Default"><span style="font-size:100%;">John VandeBerg, the chief medical officer at Texas Biomed, told NBC that chimpanzees are “like books in a library” a quote he echoes from a letter he co-signed with the other three chimpanzee lab directors.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Lisa Myers was right on to challenge him in <a href="http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rock-center/46198469#null">her report on Rock Center</a>.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);" class="Default"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);" class="Default"> </p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Though there may be semantic similarities between the discussions at my University about saving books in our library and the debate that is happening about using chimpanzees for research, let’s be clear.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Chimpanzees are not in the same ontological or ethical category as books.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Books are marvelous repositories of thoughts and ideas.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Books are certainly worth preserving.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > Good books are the sorts of things that one can go back to and learn something new from. </span><span style="font-size:100%;">But my students are also repositories of thoughts and ideas, and I always learn from them, yet my obligations and responsibilities to my students are on a completely different level than any I might have towards books.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Here is one obvious difference – I value books and want to preserve them so that others can enjoy or learn from them.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">My students are valuable in their own right, e</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ven if nobody likes them or their ideas aren’t very good (this is not true of any of my students).</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">What is valuable about my students that makes them fundamentally different from books is that they have feelings and interests and their own lives to live.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Books don’t. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Chimpanzees do.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">It seems silly to have to even write that, to point out that chimpanzees are more similar to my students than they are to books, and it raises serious questions about the thought processes of the directors of our nation’s chimpanzee research laboratories.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">It makes me wonder about the meaning of their claim that they respect the chimpanzees and have the highest reverence for them.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">How can they respect a living, feeling, experiencing being if they think of that being as an inanimate object from which knowledge can be extracted? As I said, I respect books, but the sort of respect I have for books is profoundly different than the respect one should have for sentient beings.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-USfont-family:";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">In order to treat a chimpanzee with respect, in order to promote his or her well-being, one has to understand that individual’s personality, specific needs, her interests, her fears, her emotions, and her thoughts.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51);">Understanding chimpanzees requires a sort of empathetic process, one that these lab directors clearly don’t engage and can't engage if they think of chimpanzees as being like books.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(Photo by Amy Fultz at <a href="http://chimphaven.org/">Chimp Haven</a>)</span><br /></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-10528741082062597452011-12-16T12:28:00.001-08:002011-12-16T13:16:04.579-08:00Chimp Research Coming to an End<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ys_7xp6unDg/TuurvCKrNNI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/-SqcIuR3mHw/s1600/Slide1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ys_7xp6unDg/TuurvCKrNNI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/-SqcIuR3mHw/s320/Slide1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686827779009230034" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Optima; panose-1:2 0 5 3 6 0 0 2 0 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:TimesNewRoman; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:Cambria; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; 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mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:.5in; mso-add-space:auto; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:1884904813; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-1035951460 67698705 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-text:"%1\)"; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-.25in;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} -</style><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" >While there have been a few negative responses to the Institute of Medicine’s <a href="http://iom.edu/Activities/Research/Chimpanzees.aspx">report</a> assessing the necessity of chimpanzee use in biomedical and behavioral research, released yesterday, I find the report surprisingly good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is certainly more than I realistically expected coming from a scientific committee commissioned by the National Institutes of Health (the largest source of funding for animal experimentation in the world).<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;">The IoM committee had a very narrow charge – to explore the scientific necessity of current and future research using chimpanzees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Many of us commented that the ethical issues associated with keeping highly sensitive, intelligent, social animals such as chimpanzees in captivity to be used in often painful, sometimes lethal research, could not be separated from the questions of scientific necessity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In large part, the committee agreed “</span><span style=";font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >the committee feels strongly that any assessment of the necessity for using chimpanzees as an animal model in research raises ethical issues, and any analysis of necessity must take these ethical issues into account.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But given their limited charge, they were not able to fully explore the ethical issues. (as they note on p. 15 “the committee was neither tasked nor appropriately composed to evaluate and reach consensus” on the ethical issues.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Nonetheless, their conclusions raised the bar for justifying research with chimpanzees and, importantly, the committee found that </span><span style="font-size:100%;">most of the research that is currently being done with chimpanzees is not scientifically necessary and would not pass their much more rigorous new criteria.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">This is a major finding for chimpanzees in laboratories.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">It marks the beginning of the end of research with chimpanzees.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Using chimpanzees in research is expensive and has been lucrative for those doing it.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">If the funding dries up, the remaining laboratories that use chimpanzees will stop -- certainly not for ethical reasons, not necessarily for scientific reasons, but for purely financial reasons.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">The conclusions reached by the committee and the<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/science/chimps-in-medical-research.html?_r=1"> NIH announcement</a> that they will not fund new research with chimpanzees means that the 70 year era of using our closest living relatives in laboratory experiments is coming to a close.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style=";font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >As happy as this prospect makes me, I realize that those of us interested in promoting and protecting the well-being of captive chimpanzees still have a lot of work to do.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style=";font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >Four immediate issues strike me as important to explore (this isn’t in order of importance):</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >•<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">“Ethologically appropriate” housing</span> – if, after going through a serious oversight committee and being judged by the stringent new criteria, a particular biomedical research protocol using chimpanzees is approved, “the animals used in the proposed research must be maintained either in ethologically appropriate physical and social environments or in natural habitats.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Most of the chimpanzees at research facilities today are not provided with ethologically appropriate housing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Chimpanzee experts Jill Pruetz and William McGrew suggested ten years ago<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>(in </span><span style="font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;">“What does a chimpanzee need? Using natural behavior to guide the care of captive populations” in Linda Brent’s <span style="font-style: italic;">The Care and Management of Captive Chimpanzees </span>(2001)) that, at a minimum, chimpanzees need:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family: Optima;mso-bidi-mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi- font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:";font-size:100%;" >Nesting: sites for elevated nesting and nesting material</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">2)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi- font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:";font-size:100%;" >Space for subgrouping & escape</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">3)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi- font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:";font-size:100%;" >Resources for foraging and processing rather than eating.</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">4)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi- font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:";font-size:100%;" >Three dimensional structures for travel and movement</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">5)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi- font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:";font-size:100%;" >Equitorial photo periods (12 hr)</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">6)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi- font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:";font-size:100%;" >Mixed age and sex groups</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">7)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi- font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:";font-size:100%;" >Rivals and allies for dominance</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">8)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi- font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:";font-size:100%;" >Community level affiliation</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family: Optima;mso-bidi-mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">9)<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi- font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:12.0ptfont-family:";font-size:100%;" >Extended mother offpring associations</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;mso-fareast-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" ><span style="mso-list:Ignore">10)</span></span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" > Mental Stimulation (characteristic of wild chimps)</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;">While there are obviously challenges to providing for all ten needs, this is what would minimally constitute ethologically appropriate housing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span><span style=";font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >The committee suggests that AALAC accreditation satisfies this standard for housing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This misperception needs to be addressed and quickly.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" ><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style=";font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >•<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Minimally Invasive" Behavioral Research</span> -- The report allows behavioral research with chimpanzees as long as “experiments are performed on acquiescent animals, using techniques that are minimally invasive, and in a manner that minimizes pain and distress.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>However, the report provides an example of what the committee thinks is “minimally invasive” that seems dubious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The report seems to find it acceptable to separate individuals from their groups and to administer anesthesia for behavioral research purposes (as opposed to restricting separation or anesthetization to occasions in which it is necessary to promote the interests of a particular individual or her social group):</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style=";font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >“In performing some comparative genomics or behavioral research, it also may be necessary to temporarily isolate an animal from its social group to perform behavioral tasks or for anesthesia. It is anticipated that anesthesia may be necessary for noninvasive imaging studies, the collection of biological samples (including blood, skin, adipose, or muscle) that do not involve surgical invasion of body cavities, the implantation of radio transmitters to measure autonomic nervous system function or physical activity, and the use of biosensors for recording central nervous system responses in freely moving animals” (page 34 of the report).</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style=";font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >This needs to be challenged.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >• <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oversight committee</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style=";font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >In 1989, recognizing that chimpanzee research required greater oversight, the NIH created an Interagency Animal Model Committee (IAMC) to “review all federally-supported research protocols involving the use of chimpanzees.” The committee consisted solely of government employees.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span>The IoM committee has recommended the establishment of a new oversight committee, that includes members of the public, to apply the new criteria proposed in their report.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" ><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style=";font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >This may sound like a small thing, but it is actually extremely important as it will create more accountability and transparency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The period of chimpanzee use from the time the IAMC was established is a dark one in which far too many chimpanzees suffered and died in unspeakably bad conditions (e.g. during that period the Coulston Foundation had over 600 chimpanzees).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Trustworthy oversight must include public representatives and NIH needs to be pressured to establish such a committee.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;font-size:100%;" >•<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The biggest, most complicated question, one brought up by <a href="http://www.primaterescue.org/index.php/about-the-center/our-sanctuary/">April Truitt</a> at the briefing when the report was released,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>one that goes beyond the scope of the IoM committee's charge and the report, is the question “Where are these chimpanzees going to live and who will pay for their retirement.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The North American Primate Sancutary<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Alliance members, including <a href="http://chimphaven.org/">Chimp Haven</a>, are working on these issues and need support.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-61146326264387825362011-11-25T19:32:00.001-08:002011-11-25T19:51:20.972-08:00Animal LIberation: A Graphic Guide<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://issuu.com/conflictgypsy/docs/animallibgraphicguide?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 211px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cIIeVx5CrsU/TtBfAo0A5cI/AAAAAAAAAE4/iyOXNc4730Q/s320/animalibgraphicguide.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679143594674415042" border="0" /></a><br />Almost 25 years ago now Peter Singer and I wrote a popular book. I remember thinking I wanted to write a book about animals that my (now late) mother would understand. We then learned that the little press that was publishing the book (a splinter group from the original Writers and Readers series) commissioned an extremely talented, yet not necessarily mother friendly artist, David Hine, to illustrate the book. The images in the book become somewhat iconic while the book itself was relatively obscure.<br /><br />I'm excited to learn you can now <a href="http://issuu.com/conflictgypsy/docs/animallibgraphicguide?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage">access the book</a> online at Conflict Gypsy. How nice to have it available again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-6944556571218142242011-11-05T11:01:00.000-07:002011-11-05T15:15:25.837-07:00On Death<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gzb-SnfyPWc/TrWAj2CEIUI/AAAAAAAAAEs/jh2H0TeiWCM/s1600/tarra_Bella.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 151px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gzb-SnfyPWc/TrWAj2CEIUI/AAAAAAAAAEs/jh2H0TeiWCM/s320/tarra_Bella.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671580659030958402" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;">I've been thinking about and writing about animal death lately. For a long time, after enduring the deaths of too many chimpanzees that I was close to, I couldn't even write about their lives, let alone think about writing about their deaths. I haven't quite gotten to the point that I can actually write about their deaths, but I have been able to think harder about what death means to other animals and write about that.<br /><br /> </span> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Optima; panose-1:2 0 5 3 6 0 0 2 0 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Swift-Regular; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:Cambria; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --></style><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Optima; panose-1:2 0 5 3 6 0 0 2 0 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Swift-Regular; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:Cambria; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" >While most of us think of death as a bad thing, especially when the one who dies was not sick, philosophers have famously recognized that there is a problem identifying just who is harmed by death and when that harm occurs. This may strike you as one of the many odd things that philosophers tie themselves in knots over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It seems obvious that death is a harm to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">us </b>when we die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But </span><span style=" mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" >as Epicurus wrote long ago -- “[T]he most awful of evils, is nothing to us,</span><span style="mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" >seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not.”</span><span style=" mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" > In other words, b</span><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" >efore death there is</span><span style=" mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;">no harm as death hasn’t happened yet and thus does no damage to the creature who eventually will die, after death there is no one to be harmed since death </span><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" >marks the end of that creature and all of her experiences. </span><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" >In order to avoid this philosophical problem, I’ve been thinking of death as a social harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Death is not so much a harm to the one who dies, but rather to those who remain. </span> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" >This social harm was made particularly vivid to me this week with the death of the dog Bella, who became well-known through her uncommon friendship with a gentle giant, Tarra, an elephant who lives at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Elephants, of all the other animals, are perhaps best known as those who grieve those who die and often suffer trauma when they <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08elephant.html?pagewanted=all">witness</a> the murder of one of their own. </span>Bella died at the sanctuary during the night when she apparently was attacked by coyotes and killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Tarra looks to have retrieved the body to bring Bella to rest close to “home.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now Tarra, the elephant caregivers (read Suz’s heartbreaking <a href="http://www.elephants.com/elediary.php">account)</a>, and all of us who have been following this unlikely friendship grieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We are suffering the social harm that death is, while Bella is no more.<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Optima;font-size:100%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;font-size:100%;" >Fortunately for Tarra, she has friends like <a href="http://www.elephants.com/shirley/shirleyBio.php">Shirley</a> (another remarkable elephant who I write about in Chapter 5 of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Animals-Introduction-Cambridge-Applied/dp/0521717736/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1281020623&sr=1-1">Ethics and Animals</a>) and she, and all of us who mourn with her, will get by with the help of our friends.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-family:Optima;mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;font-size:10.0pt;" > </span><span style="font-family:Times;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;" ></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-22037054075085076852011-09-18T12:29:00.000-07:002011-09-18T12:48:48.967-07:00Self Interest and VegetarianismAdvocates of vegetarianism and veganism often provide a three-pronged argument for their views: the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_vegetarianism""target="_blank">Environmental Argument</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_eating_meat""target="_blank">Moral Argument</a>, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism#Health_benefits_and_concerns""target="_blank">Health Argument</a>. The Environmental and Moral Arguments center on issues that appeal to more abstract or distal concerns than the Health Argument, and because of this, the Health Argument seems conspicuously to be gaining ground lately, especially in a culture dominated by values of self-interest and, as some argue, Baby Boomer obsessions with aging (or rather, <i>not</i> aging). A few prominent examples include <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/bill-clintons-vegan-journey/""target="_blank">Bill Clinton</a>'s recent conversion and "coming out" as a vegan; notorious British carnivore, author, and chef <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/26/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-vegetables""target="_blank">Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall</a>'s recent public advocacy for the eating of mostly fresh grains and vegetables (though Fearnley-Whittingstall swears that he is not now (nor ever will be) a vegetarian); and the success of the documentary film <i><a href="http://forksoverknives.com/""target="_blank">Forks Over Knives</a></i>. These cases seem to support the view that in a consumer culture populated by aging agents of self-interest, perhaps the most effective argument for vegetarianism will turn out to be not the one that requires ethical abstractions about the lives of other sentient beings or the rescuing of the biosphere, but the one that convinces people that they will feel better, and live longer, healthier lives if they adopt a whole-foods, vegetarian diet. That such (un-)enlightened self-interest, such obsessions with the self, may turn out to have positive, unintended consequences that will decrease animal suffering and decelerate global climate change I find both encouraging and discouraging. Encouraging for obvious, consequentialist reasons; discouraging because to think that the same Adam-Smith-like forces that gave us things like rampant consumerism, environmental destruction, and factory farming might need be relied on to move us towards solutions to the problems it created, can sink the spirits of those of us who believe that we can be moved to action and change by those more "abstract" and "distal" ethical concerns.RCJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17059326972634029611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-89819355495380205112011-09-16T18:49:00.000-07:002011-09-16T18:53:19.136-07:00Become an ASI HAS Scholar<pre style="clear: both;"><pre style="clear: both;"><span style=";font-family:verdana,geneva;font-size:small;" ><!-- Begin Link --> </span><a href="http://www.animalsandsociety.org/scholars"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: small;"><!-- Begin Link --> </span></a><a href="http://www.animalsandsociety.org/scholars"> <img src="http://www.animalsandsociety.org/assets/540_bannerdoghorizontal1.jpg" alt="HAS logo" /> </a> <!-- End Link --><br /><br />This is a great way to network with others working in animal studies!<br /><a href="http://www.animalsandsociety.org/scholars"><br /></a></pre></pre><p> </p> <pre style="clear: both;"><pre style="clear: both;"><span style=";font-family:verdana,geneva;font-size:small;" ><a href="http://www.animalsandsociety.org/scholars"> </a><!-- End Link --></span></pre></pre>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-78012597819379006452011-09-07T11:29:00.001-07:002011-09-07T11:36:52.257-07:00Happy Birthday Sheba!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3PL8yy1ukDk/Tme4SdCQWoI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/agdvFEpIDVQ/s1600/7820_139694886276_35332221276_3034880_2546225_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3PL8yy1ukDk/Tme4SdCQWoI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/agdvFEpIDVQ/s320/7820_139694886276_35332221276_3034880_2546225_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649686884730821250" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RgNzwZpGT4w/Tme4aYsQ7II/AAAAAAAAAEY/BXqBVy2s6gM/s1600/Shebahootface_AF.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RgNzwZpGT4w/Tme4aYsQ7II/AAAAAAAAAEY/BXqBVy2s6gM/s320/Shebahootface_AF.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649687021003795586" border="0" /></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://chimphaven.org">Sheba is 30!</a><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-24998018663604047022011-09-07T10:55:00.000-07:002011-09-07T11:22:44.524-07:00Respecting Differences<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CC-8VTbiuYk/Tmez1mtdbfI/AAAAAAAAAD4/ydinW4N1Sls/s1600/PROJECT-NIM-002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; 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mso-ansi-font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt; font-family:"Lucida Grande"; mso-ascii-font-family:"Lucida Grande"; mso-hansi-font-family:"Lucida Grande";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Two summer movies featuring “chimpanzees” (no actual chimpanzees were used in the production of either film) have really got folks talking about our primate cousins.<span style=""> </span>People seem to be both fascinated and frightened by the idea that scientists might create intelligence in other apes.<span style=""> </span>What’s interesting is that other apes are already intelligent without our manipulations -- we just don’t know how to appreciate it because we’re too focused on our own cleverness.<span style=""> </span><i style="">Project Nim</i>, a<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/aug/18/troubled-life-nim-chimpsky/">documentary</a> by James Marsh, director of the acclaimed <i style="">Man on a Wire</i>, reveals the quirks inherent in cognition research with chimpanzees as well as some of the<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://decipherimages.com/post/5489441068/may-14-11-project-nim-a-review">quirkiness</a> of the people who do that research.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--></span></span></a><i style=""> Rise of Planet of the Apes</i>, directed by Rupert Wyatt, is a<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-20110804">science fiction</a> precursor to the original <i style="">Planet of the Apes</i>, forty years later, and indirectly addresses more <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2015895873_guest13durham.html">invasive</a> forms of research with great apes. <a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn2" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In both of these movies scientists are trying to make chimpanzees more like humans.<span style=""> </span>The lead chimpanzees in the films, Nim and Caesar, are raised by humans, dressed in human clothes, and taught to use a type of human language.<span style=""> </span>In the case of Nim Chimpsky, researchers tried to teach Nim to communicate using a type of human sign language.<span style=""> </span>The project tragically failed. Herb Terrace’s ill-conceived research project did not allow Nim to acquire the skills associated with human language and ultimately traumatized Nim.<span style=""> </span>In his early years he was passed from person to person, then later sent from laboratory to laboratory, and finally he spent many years in social isolation, before dying of a heart attack when he was just 26 (many chimpanzees in captivity live into their 50s).<span style=""> </span>In <i style="">Rise of the Planet of the Apes</i>, apes do pick up sign language and are able to communicate particularly well among themselves after genetic manipulation and in the fictitious case, their communication leads them to organize against the extraordinarily hubristic apes -- us. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Humans have been interested in making chimpanzees more like us for over a hundred years.<span style=""> </span>The project really got off the ground in the US when Robert M. Yerkes (while working at Yale University) started his<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://first100chimps.wesleyan.edu/">Anthropoid Experimental Station</a> in Orange Park, Florida in 1930.<span style=""> </span>There he planned to <span style="font-family:Times;">“shape chimpanzees to specification instead of maintaining them (a vain effort) as in Nature.<span style=""> </span>Thus, by bold venture in the control of our materials of research, we may succeed in creating a subject incomparably more serviceable for research than any available natural type…The ideal experimental chimpanzee should then be small, … behaviorally highly adaptive, active, original, non-destructive, cooperative; naturally tame and readily gentled, non-pugnacious, affectively stable and with high emotional threshold, unselfish or altruistic, frank, dependable, easy to handle, good-natured, even-tempered..” Yerkes, who was also interested in eugenics and participated in the establishment of standardized intelligence testing, was not successful in creating the ideal, humanized chimpanzee for research.<span style=""> </span>Nonetheless, the quest to do so continues.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;">Nim was one of dozens of chimpanzees that were part of “cross-fostering” experiments in which chimpanzees were raised in human homes and treated like children in the hopes of humanizing their cognitive capacities.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Nim’s daughter,<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span><a href="http://www.chimphaven.org/temp-chimp.cfm">Sheba</a>, who just celebrated her 30<sup>th</sup> birthday, was also “enculturated” and worked in cognition research where she learned how to <a href="http://www.pbs.org/saf/transcripts/transcript504.htm#5">count</a>.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn4" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;">Sheba’s life has fortunately gone better than Nim’s, but it has not been free of suffering or trauma.<span style=""> </span>She was ripped away from her mother Lilly at the Institute for Primate Studies in Norman, Oklahoma, where Nim was also taken from his mother Carolyn less than a decade earlier.<span style=""> </span>Sheba was then shipped away from her human caregivers who she had grown attached to at the Ohio State University.<span style=""> </span>She has also experienced the death of a number of her chimpanzee friends, some of whom she seemed particularly fond of.<span style=""> </span>She now lives in a stimulating, enriched sanctuary environment at Chimp Haven (where the chimpanzee <a href="http://www.chimphaven.org/view-news.cfm?id=201">voices</a> for <i style="">Rise of Planet of the Apes</i> were recorded) and I think her life is going well. <span style=""></span>Though she is forever a captive, the expert care-takers at Chimp Haven work to promote her and all the chimpanzees’ “wild dignity.” Yet when I look into Sheba’s eyes, I can’t help but wonder, “why did we do this to you?<span style=""> </span>Why can’t we humans accept you for the marvelous, smart, interesting being that you are?<span style=""> </span>Why do we need to think you are more like us in order to care about you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;">The answers, of course, are complicated.<span style=""> </span>Journalist Jon Cohen speculates that </span>"We're fascinated by the notion that we can communicate with species on other planets, that the universe isn't as lonely as it appears to be [and] If we could somehow have a chimp that was more like us, it would satisfy this deep science-fiction desire for communication with others, and make us feel less lonely. But it's a <a href="http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/05/7266782-how-high-could-apes-rise">fantasy</a>."<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn6" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--></span></span></a><span style=""> </span>Communication across difference is hard, to be sure, but it is not in the realm of fantasy.<span style=""> </span>It is imperative in our dealings with humans who are categorized as “others” that we figure out ways to respect differences.<span style=""> </span>While it is a constant struggle for the subaltern to speak, it is a matter of justice that those in power figure out how to listen.<span style=""> </span>This is true in the case of humans as well as in the case of non-human others.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;">Fortunately, systematic attempts to think harder about what we have done to Sheba, Nim, and the other chimpanzees we have subjugated have begun.<span style=""> </span>The <a href="http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Research/Chimpanzees.aspx">Institute of Medicine</a> has convened a committee to determine whether the use of chimpanzee is or will be necessary in biomedical and behavioral research.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn7" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--></span></span></a><span style=""></span>Their findings will be out at the end of the year.<span style=""> </span>The National Fish and Wildlife Service has just begun a review to determine whether captive chimpanzees should be <a href="http://us.vocuspr.com/Newsroom/Query.aspx?SiteName=fws&Entity=PRAsset&SF_PRAsset_PRAssetID_EQ=128219&XSL=PressRelease&Cache=True">reclassified</a> as endangered.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn8" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--></span></span></a><span style=""> </span>Wild chimpanzees have been classified as endangered since 1990, but by special rule, at the time captive chimpanzees were given a lesser listing as threatened, so their use could continue.<span style=""> </span>That classification is being revisited and public <a href="https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5176&s_src=waynesblog">comments</a> are welcome.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn9" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style=""> </span>And there is a bipartisan <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s112-810">bill </a>working its way through Congress that will protect great apes from use in invasive research.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn10" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--></span></span></a><span style=""> </span>The United States and Gabon are the only countries in the world that still use other great apes in such research.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-family:Times;">It may be that we, the talking apes, can talk ourselves into a new history and retire the nearly 1000 chimpanzees that are currently captives in laboratories.<span style=""> </span>I can only hope that I will be able to look into Sheba’s eyes when that day comes.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times;">Lori Gruen<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn11" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> is the author of <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/isbn/item5694023/?site_locale=en_US"><i style="">Ethics and Animals:<span style=""> </span>An Introduction</i></a><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn12" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--></span></span></a>.<span style=""> </span>She is the chair of the Philosophy Department at Wesleyan <span style="background: yellow none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;"></span>where she also co-coordinates <a href="http://www.wesleyan.edu/animalstudies/">Wesleyan Animal Studies</a>.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftn13" name="_ftnref" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""></span></span></a><span style=""> </span>She is currently working on a book on the ethical and epistemological issues raised by our relationship to captive chimpanzees.</span></p><div style=""><div style="" id="ftn"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5001266894496714237#_ftnref" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--></span></span></a></p></div></div> <!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-62430738830058368802011-03-27T12:45:00.000-07:002011-03-27T13:17:50.189-07:00Paul Root Wolpe's TED Lecture: "It's Time to Question Bio-engineering"Last November, Emory University bioethicist Paul Root Wolpe gave a TED lecture which included some chilling uses of animals in biotechnology. There are quite a number of important ethical and biological questions raised by the type of biotechnoloogy presented in Root Wolpe's talk. For example, though difficulties in making clear demarcations among and between species have long been discussed in the philosophy of biology literature, the work on animals we see in Root Wolpe's presentation has the potential to make those kinds of difficulties seem quaint and simplistic. Further, the ethical import and implications of this kind of research for notions like <span style="font-style: italic;">species</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">sex</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">gender</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">human</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">animal</span> are profound. <a "target="_blank" href="http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_root_wolpe_it_s_time_to_question_bio_engineering.html">Check out this 19:42 video</a>.RCJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17059326972634029611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-70242066074119915512011-03-06T07:40:00.001-08:002011-03-06T07:46:02.929-08:00Sex, Gender, Species ConferenceI'm just recovering from a wonderfully engaging conference I co-hosted last weekend at Wesleyan called 'Sex, Gender, Species." Feminist engagement in and with animals studies is where it's at. The papers were theoretically provocative and expansive. For absracts go <a href="http://sexgenderspecies.conference.wesleyan.edu/abstracts/">here</a>. For scenes from the event go<a href="http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2011/03/01/intersections-between-feminist-animal-studies-explored-at-conference/"> here</a>. For a discussion from Scu, who gave a great presentation, go <a href="http://criticalanimal.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-on-sex-gender-species-conference.html">here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-49553569834018354302011-02-22T16:38:00.000-08:002011-02-22T16:55:07.696-08:00David Jentsch: Justifying Animal Experimentation<span style="font-family:arial;">A</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> recent article in the <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/The-Animal-Researcher-Will-Not/126442/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Chronicle of Higher Education</span></a> profiles UCLA Professor Jentsch who uses vervet monkeys in his research. The article includes a truncated description of a dialogue I had with Jentsch over a lunch organized by <span style="font-style: italic;">Chronicle</span> reporter, Robin Wilson.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In one passage, Wilson recounts her version of a question that I supposedly put to Jentsch, namely, "What gives you the right to experiment on primates for the benefit of humans?"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Though this is not the kind of question I would ask, what she recounts as Jentsch's response leads to a few important points.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> She writes</span>:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Mr. Jentsch had a ready answer: "Normal people on the street." He likes to cite <a href="http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/528.pdf">a 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press</a> that found that 52 percent of the public favors the use of animals in research. "They have thought through this issue," says Mr. Jentsch, "and have acquired a comfort zone....Society has grappled with these issues and thinks using animals is legitimate. But we are constantly called upon to redefend it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I think Jentsch's response raises some interesting ethical, pedagogical, and professional issues.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">One thing it raises is the question of ethical relativism. Does Jentsch really believe that what ethically justifies animal experimentation is that 52% of the culture believes it to be a morally acceptable practice? I wonder how Prof. Jentsch would respond if, say, Pew repeated the survey in a few years and it turned out that at that time only 48% of the public supported the use of animals in scientific research. Would he then make a public pronouncement declaring the use of animals in research immoral?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Another issue raised by his response involves the question of the amount of education graduate students and professors who work in labs receive on the subject of animal ethics, specifically, the ethical issues surrounding animal experimentation. Regarding such programs at UCLA for instance, students receive just one hour of instruction on the guidelines for the treatment of lab animals, taught not by a professional ethicist, but by a scientist. Given that in the US alone, over 100 million animals suffer and die in laboratories every year, requiring that researchers (and future researchers) take a rigorous course in animal ethics taught by a professional trained in ethical reasoning seems at least a reasonable minimum. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Jentsch's responses to the ethical issues raised by his work—which involves addicting monkeys to methamphetamine—and the work of others like him point to a larger issue regarding the attitude that people (even PhD'd research scientists at elite universities) take toward ethics as a practice and profession. Though most people agree that scientists, those who conduct research using animals, medical professionals, airline pilots, auto mechanics, and baristas require varying levels of rigorous training to become specialists in their respective fields, it is widely believed that anyone with an opinion and an argument to back it up can do ethics. But becoming a professional ethicist—as with most academic disciplines—requires rigorous study at the graduate level, usually culminating in a PhD. Professional ethicists are rigorously trained experts schooled in those theoretical complexities involved in (among other things) assessing and weighing the value and merits of various ethical arguments and positions one may take with regard to a multitude of practical ethical situations and dilemmas. Were this fact acknowledged by the university-animal-research-industrial complex, questions regarding the use and treatment of animals in scientific research would be put in the hands of professional ethicists, not scientists familiar only with so-called ethical guidelines such as those found governing <a href="http://www.iacuc.org/">IACUC</a>s or <a href="http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/olaw.htm">NIH guidelines for the treatment of lab animals</a>. We let professional scientists do science, we should let professional ethicists do ethics, and let's hope they can more regularly work together. We are all too aware of the dangers that can occur when science does its thing without ethical reflection and oversight.</span>RCJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17059326972634029611noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-88583326185132497882011-02-21T06:40:00.000-08:002011-02-21T11:52:55.525-08:00Making Monkeys ObeseThe <span style="font-style: italic;">NYTimes</span> <a href="http://http//www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/health/20monkey.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=monkeys&st=cse">reports </a>on a series of experiments that keeps highly social primates in isolation cages to fatten them up to test obesity drugs, among other things. These are long-term studies and the article reports that there are additional obesity studies being done in baboons at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. Another researcher at the University of South Florida has been doing experiments with fat monkeys for forty years. (Hasn't the human obesity epidemic emerged within those forty years?) The <span style="font-style: italic;">Times</span> reports that such studies costs "several million dollars."<br /><br />Dr. Kevin Grove, a researcher at the Oregon National Primate Center who defends socially isolating the macaques he makes fat, has learned that in humans "eating a healthy diet during pregnancy reduced troubles in the offspring." What a finding! Perhaps spending a few more million dollars and causing countless primates more suffering will eventually lead doctors to tell pregnant women to eat well while pregnant. Oh wait, doctors already <a href="http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/eating-right-when-pregnant">tell</a> pregnant women that.<br /><br />This article raises a very important ethical question -- are there any experiments with animals that experimenters are prepared to condemn? Their credibility depends on their being able to critically reflect on the ethical issues associated with using other animals in research and to recognize that some experiments cannot be justified.<br /><br />When federally funded after school programs and other social services aimed at curtailing human obesity are being cut, spending millions of tax dollars to make monkeys obese raises serious questions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-54233361734617283682011-02-07T06:29:00.000-08:002011-02-07T16:59:27.481-08:00Chimpanzee Ads during the SuperbowlMy compassionate Super Bowl Party hosts knew that the CareerBuilder advertisement that featured actual chimpanzee youngsters would distress me, so they fast-forwarded through the ad. But I am not an ostrich. I know that even though I didn't see the ad that it exists means there will be more chimpanzees exploited in the entertainment industry and then discarded when they are no longer willing or able to perform.<br /><br />The four chimpanzees used in the original CareerBuilder Super Bowl commercial -- Kodua, Mowgli, Bella, and Ellie -- are now living at a wonderful sanctuary in Florida called the Center for Great Apes. They spend their days playing with other chimpanzees, they have lots of enrichment, and terrific human care. But providing for captive chimpanzees is expensive and, more importantly, breeding more chimpanzees to spend their lives in captivity cannot be justified, particularly for inane advertisements.<br /><br />To read more go <a href="http://www.centerforgreatapes.org/news.aspx#We%20Feed%20the%20CB%20Chimpanzees">here. </a>And <a href="http://adage.com/superbowl/article?article_id=148714">here</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Advertising Age </span>has an editorial <a href="http://http//adage.com/superbowl/article?article_id=148724">against</a> using chimpanzees.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5001266894496714237.post-8390844876201505592010-07-03T11:52:00.001-07:002010-07-03T11:52:57.231-07:00Watch this space, more to come.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1