Emotional Trauma That Chimpanzees Suffer, In Labs

BOSTON, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- A recent study documents the severe
emotional trauma chimpanzees suffer as
 a result of laboratory use and
confinement. Developmental Context
Effects on Bicultural Post-Trauma Self
Repair in Chimpanzees was published
in the September issue, Vol. 45 (5),
of
the American Psychological Association
 journal Developmental Psychology.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090909/DC72238)

Psychologists G.A. Bradshaw, Ph.D.,
Ph.D., Theodora Capaldo, Ed.D., Lorin
Lindner, Ph.D., and Gloria Grow,
Fauna sanctuary director, examined the
case histories of three chimpanzees --
Billy Jo, Tom, and Regis -- all used in
research before rescue into sanctuary.
The study underscores the ethical
implications of cross-fostering nonhuman
primates and their use in research.

Says Dr. Capaldo, president of the New
England Anti-Vivisection Society
(NEAVS): "A federal bill to end the use
 of chimpanzees in research (the Great
Ape Protection Act, H.R. 1326) has been
introduced. Studies like ours expose
the reality of what it is like for
approximately 1000 chimpanzees
languishing in U.S. labs. Chimpanzee
research must stop if we are to end
the suffering
caused by decisions -- both scientifically
flawed and ethically unjustifiable
-- to use them as living test tubes."

Billy Jo lived like a human child
from infancy to his teenage years
when he
was sent to a lab. He spent his next
fourteen years alone in a 5'X5'X7' cage,
enduring hundreds of procedures. He
was rescued into sanctuary at age 29 and
died only 8 years later.

Tom's family was killed in Africa in
order to capture him. He spent decades in
three different labs undergoing multiple
procedures including 369 "knockdowns"
-- anesthesia by dart gun. Every morning,
 Tom gags uncontrollably -- the
result of repeated intubations.

Regis, born in a lab, was only 2 years
old when he was treated for his first
stress-related injury -- he had chewed
his finger nail completely off. Regis,
fearful if left alone, suffers severe
anxiety attacks in which he nearly stops
breathing.

The chimpanzees' symptoms are consistent
with traumatic stress, depression,
and other psychological conditions.
Post-Trauma Self Repair in Chimpanzees
follows Building an Inner Sanctuary:
Complex PTSD in Chimpanzees (published
April 2008 in the Journal of Trauma and
Dissociation), which represented the
first time human psychiatric symptoms
and diagnoses were applied to
chimpanzees, demonstrating that
psychological suffering crosses species
lines.
Together, the papers provide irrefutable
arguments to the growing ethical
imperative to end the use of chimpanzees
in U.S. research.



SOURCE  New England Anti-Vivisection Society

Karen Smith, NEAVS, +1-617-523-6020,
+1-617-413-0611, ksmith@neavs.org

Source