Museum of primate research in Madison, WI

There is a story on the front page of the Sunday, July 24, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headed, "The protesters next door.
Activists plan to exhibit opposition near UW's monkey research labs."

It opens:
"Aside from the faint smell of monkeys, the large building with an 'Authorized Personnel Only' sign on the outskirts of University of Wisconsin-Madison betrays few signs of life.

"A passerby would have little reason to suspect that inside its brick walls, hundreds of researchers in white lab coats, facemasks and goggles are busy experimenting on more than 1,500 primates. Or that some of the experiments involve injecting the animals with the monkey equivalent of human immunodeficiency virus, better known as HIV. And that others require syringe needles to be pushed through the animals' skulls.

"But what happens inside the National Primate Research Center and a university lab next door that also uses monkeys may soon become much more public.

"In June, a former middle school teacher turned primate defender signed a contract to purchase a cluster of buildings between the labs. He and other animal rights activists plan to create an exhibition hall on the site that will showcase what they say is the torturous reality of primate research. As a sign of what's to come, they have posted on the front of the biggest building a photo of a brown monkey with metal rods protruding from its head and a pained look on its face.

"Needless to say, the researchers are not happy."

We learn that the center "helped improve the technology used to assist women to become pregnant through in vitro fertilization" and that now "the lab is using monkeys to test the theory that a low-calorie diet will slow aging" and also does experiments looking for treatments for terminal human diseases such as Parkinson's and AIDS.

We read about Rick Bogle:
"Bogle, a bearded man who wears blue jeans and Converse All Stars, converted to the cause of monkeys at an environmental conference in Eugene, Ore., in the 1990s. He heard a veterinarian give a speech about a researcher at the Oregon National Primate Research Center who was studying the neurological effects of depriving baby monkeys of a particular nutrient.

"Bogle, 52, was upset to hear that holes were drilled in the monkeys' heads to remove brain samples and that the research was repeated multiple times on different groups of monkeys.

"He scanned the Internet to learn more about the federally funded primate research centers. Most disturbing to him were descriptions of monkeys whose backs were fitted with monitors and those whose skulls were punctured in order to insert metal wires with electrical tips in their brains. At the most basic level, he objected to placing the animals in captivity.

"'I realized that there were hundreds of researchers doing similar things,' Bogle said. 'It became clear that there were a lot of animals suffering.'"

We learn that while protesting outside the primate research center and the Harlow Primate Lab, Bogle noticed a warehouse and asked the owner if he would sell. With the help of a $700,000 anonymous loan, Bogle signed a contract with the owner: "The warehouse and several smaller buildings surrounding it are his if he can raise the money to gut the warehouse and operate it as an exhibition hall.
He has nine months. By Bogle's estimates, the cost will be $100,000. As of last week, he had raised $35,000 through the donations from activists who had heard about the exhibition hall by word of mouth. Bogle expects to get the rest through a nationwide direct mail campaign he just launched."

We read that UW-Madison officials are trying to get the owner to sell the warehouse to the university, but the article ends with this great from the owner: "I like the idea of a peaceful protest building that will show their side of the story. I think that's American. I think that's fair."

You can read the whole article on line at:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jul05/343351.asp

It opens the door for letters against vivisection. The Journal Sentinel takes letters at: http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/submit.asp

And you can learn more about the museum project, and even donate on line, at:
http://primateresearch.com/

Rick Bogle is a passionate, intelligent and wonderfully articulate activist. I encourage other activists to learn about his work.

I thank Cassandra and Kim from Alliance For Animals, Milwaukee, for making sure we knew about this article.


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)