Stop using chimps for experiments

This week chimpanzees are much in the news -- in an op-ed in today's (Thursday) New York Times, on a CNN blog written by Peter Singer, and in movie theatres where the box office smash "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," and the stunningly reviewed "Project Nim" are both challenging audiences to rethink our relationships with the great apes.
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>The Thursday, August 11, New York Times includes an op-ed by the Roscoe G. Bartlett, a Republican representative from Maryland, titled, "Stop Using Chimps as Guinea Pigs."
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>It opens with:
>"Before I was elected to Congress, I was a physiologist at the Navys School of Aviation Medicine. For our successful missions to transport men to the moon and return them safely to Earth, I invented a series of respiratory support devices, which we tested on primates, including Baker, a squirrel monkey. Before humans were rocketed into space, Baker was the first primate to survive a trip into space and back; Able, her counterpart on the flight, died from an allergic reaction to an anesthetic during a procedure shortly after the landing.
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>"At the time, I believed such research was worth the pain inflicted on the animals. But in the years since, our understanding of its effect on primates, as well as alternatives to it, have made great strides, to the point where I no longer believe such experiments make sense scientifically, financially or ethically. Thats why I have introduced bipartisan legislation to phase out invasive research on great apes in the United States."
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>You'll find that full op-ed on line at http://tinyurl.com/3cayvyj
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>The title of the piece (titles generally being chosen by NY Times writers, not the contributing op-ed writers) while meant to be humorous, points to a problem that we, as advocates for animals, will naturally have with this kind of battle. As Jeremy Bentham so beautifully put it, many years ago, "The question is not 'Can they reason?' nor 'Can they talk?' but rather 'Can they suffer?'" Animals other than chimpanzees truly suffer in laboratories. And even if we were to focus on reasoning and communication, the more we test that in other species, the more we realize our tendency to underrate it. In fact I am moved to share here an interview I came across this week with the captivating scientist Dr Neil DeGrasse Tyson in which he discusses the inappropriate hubris with which humans have traditionally treated members of other species. His discussions of the intelligence of dogs, and his half joking comments that the term "bird brain" is destined to become a compliment, are well
>worth listening to. I recommend you check out the interview at
>http://tinyurl.com/3qphntz
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>My intent here is not to detract from the legislation aimed at protecting chimpanzees or from the op-ed supporting that legislation. That legislation will be a blessing for chimpanzees. It will also open the door for future protection for other species. If we protect chimpanzees based on their similarities to us, then how can we fail to protect other animals in the face of increasing evidence that they too, regardless of their size, are like us in many ways? My intent is simply to make sure we don't lose sight of that ultimate goal, and also that we take every opportunity to move towards it. The op-ed in the Times makes way for letters supporting the article and the legislation, but it also gives us the opportunity to note that it is not only chimpanzee testing that is cruel and outdated.
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>You can send appreciative letters to the editor to letters@nytimes.com
>Note -- It is important that your letters do not use my words. Please use your own words to speak up for the chimps and for all animals suffering in laboratories. You will influence the thinking of other New York Times readers, plus legislators look to the letters pages as barometers of public opinion, so your letters matter.
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>Today's New York Times piece is complimented beautifully by a blog on the CNN site by "Animal Liberation" author, Professor Peter Singer, titled "A Planet for All Apes." Singer discusses two films currently in theatres that deal with our relationships with chimpanzees. We lean that Rupert Wyatt's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" uses no live chimpanzees, with Wyatt noting, "To get apes to do anything you want them to do, you have to dominate them; you have to manipulate them into performing. Thats exploitative."
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>We also learn that James Franco plays a scientist who experiments on chimpanzees while seeking a cure for Alzheimers disease. Singer writes:
>"Many films would have glorified a scientist seeking such a goal, and treated the use of animals for that purpose as obviously justified. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, however, portrays Rodman as, in Franco's words, 'a cold, isolated person.'"
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>Sounds perfect! I am going to see that film on Saturday. Then on Monday I will see Project Nim, of which you can read the gorgeous reviews at http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/project_nim/
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>Singer ends his piece with:
>"Perhaps the release of these two very different films will lead to a further push to bring great apes within the circle of beings with moral and legal rights. In that way, our closest relatives could serve to bridge the moral gulf that we have dug between ourselves and other animals."
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>Note that Singer doesn't point to legal rights for chimpanzees as the end goal but rather as a bridge over the moral gulf. That is an idea explored fully in Steve Wise's classic book, "Rattling the Cage: Towards Legal Rights for Animals." Pick it up.
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>You'll find Singer's piece on line at:
>http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/09/a-planet-for-all-apes/
>It is well worth reading. Check it out, and please leave a supportive comment. Again -- feedback matters!
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>Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published.
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>Yours and the animals',
>Karen Dawn
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>(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. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts only if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line.)
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>Please go to http://tinyurl.com/254ulkx to check out Karen Dawn's book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals," which in 2008 was chosen by the Washington Post as one of the "Best Books of The Year!"