Harvard Claims PETA Abuse Complaint is Just a Tall TAIL
Posted on: Saturday, 18 February 2006, 21:00 CST
By MARIE SZANISZLO
Along with having some of the nation's premier laboratories, Harvard now has the distinction of ranking sixth on PETA's list of 10 worst universities when it comes to abuse of research animals.
"Harvard officials have turned an institution of higher learning into an animal Abu Ghraib," said Ingrid E. Newkirk of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "These people are wasting lives and money, and are badly in need of a refresher course in ethics and the humane treatment of animals."
Home to the New England Primate Research Center, Harvard houses 2,000 primates that are used in cocaine studies and other experiments, according to PETA.
Research data suggests more than 90 percent of the primates have at least one abnormal or self-destructive behavior, the group says, and about 20 percent seriously injure themselves because of stress stemming from confinement, boredom, loneliness and the separation of babies from their mothers.
In a statement, Harvard Medical School spokesman John Lacey said the center's researchers are working to develop an HIV vaccine and have made "scores" of scientific discoveries important to health.
None of the animals is kept in isolation, Lacey said, and the center spent $634,505 in the past two years on environmental improvements such as custom-built cages, televisions and primate toys.
"The minimum number of animals are used," he said, and procedures "are carried out humanely."
Source: Boston Herald
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