For immediate release:
May 19, 2021
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
Amherst, Massachusetts. – After it was revealed that the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) cuts, sows and kills monkeys to study menopause –a condition that animals don’t even experience– PETA calls on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to end research funding and calls on the school’s animal welfare committee to close the lab.
UMass imprisons dozens of monkeys – small New World monkeys known to be particularly susceptible to disease in captivity. University experimenters tie frightened monkeys to restraints, drill through their skulls and implant electrodes, slit their necks to expose muscles, and thread electrode wires from the scalp and neck to their belly. To simulate “hot flashes” in monkeys, experimenters cut out their ovaries and heated the animals. hand warmerslike those put in mittens in winter… In another UMass experiment, castrated male monkeys were injected with testosterone and then tested for their cognitive function. In some tests, these sensitive social monkeys are kept in solitary confinement.
“Believing you can study menopause in animals that can’t even experience it won’t win you an award at a fifth grade science fair,” says PETA vice president Dr. Alka Chandna. “The NIH must stop the monkey massacre at the University of Massachusetts.”
PETA has been contacted by numerous University of Massachusetts alumni and donors concerned about school animal rights violations. The USDA cited the university for severely burning the animal on a heating pad while recovering from surgery, failed to alert the treating veterinarian of sick animals, allowed the monkey to escape, and injured the animal’s tail during recapture. …
PETA, whose motto is in part that “animals are not ours to experiment on” – opposes arrogance, a worldview focused on human excellence. For more information please visit PETA.org; follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram; or click here…