By SOS at UC Davis — peaceatucd@gmail.com
This is a letter from the students of the Students Opposing Speciesism hub here at UC Davis. We have been working around the clock with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty through Education (P.E.A.C.E.) to get the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC), run by UC Davis, shut down.
Thousands of monkeys — including ones who may be just hours old — are being placed under stressful conditions, infected with deadly viruses and painful diseases, surgically mutilated and killed for cruel and ineffective experiments at CNPRC.
Experimenters have cut open monkeys’ skulls and severed part of their spinal cords — even though these kinds of experiments haven’t been useful for humans. They tear terrified babies away from their mothers to study the impact of early-life stress on the regulation of hormones. Macaques are purposely kept thirsty to compel them to comply with experimenters in exchange for a few drops of water or juice. And that is just a small fraction of the horror that goes on at the CNPRC.
We don’t want our tuition being used to fund these painful and wasteful experiments. The CNPRC needs to retire the monkeys from their facility to reputable sanctuaries where they can live in peace and transform into a scientific center that’s dedicated to using modern, human-relevant, ethical, animal-free research methods. Harvard University has already shut down its primate center, proving that accurate scientific research can be conducted without the use of non-human animals. We are asking our university to follow in its footsteps and end the use of non-human animals at the CNPRC.
Written by: The students of UC Davis SOS — peaceatucd@gmail.com
Students Opposing Speciesism (SOS) is a national student-led animal rights organization. UC Davis SOS, run by Davis student activists, aims to end the exploitation of animals for food, entertainment and science. They strive to educate the public on speciesism (the discriminatory, misguided belief that one species is more important than another), and the many alternatives available to using animals in all walks of life. Their ultimate goal is to end all animal suffering, and utilize educational events, protests, outreach and demonstrations as catalysts for change. SOS at UC Davis has recently been leading a campaign to end the use of non-human animals at the California National Primate Research Center. They hope to help the university transition into an institution that relies on accurate, modern forms of scientific testing, more valid and ethical than using animals.
Initial Signatories:
Kara Long (Psychology)
Sarah Allanach (Nutritional Biology)
Erica Arroyo (Biological Systems Engineering)
Erin Bird (Neurobiology Physiology and Behavior)
Victoria Alvarez (Animal Science)
Anahi Zarate (Animal Science)
Alawna Thompson (Animal Science)
Stacia Paramo (Animal Science)
Shreya Voonna (Biological Sciences)
Francisco Magana (Economics)
Brenda Damian (Psychology & Sociology)
Victor Hernandez (Sociology Organization Studies)
Thomas Seibel (Communications)
Antonia Gomez (BioMedical Engineering)
Liliana Santos (Sociology)
Craig Ciampa (Linguistics)
Silvia Rodriguez (Mathematics)
Claire Armstrong (English)
Leora Galindo (Linguistics)
Juliana Martinez Hernandez (Political Science)
Summer Camporesi (Landscape Architecture)
Daniela Alcazar (Sociology)
Emma Joanna Padilla Zavala (Animal Science)
Julissa (Psychology)
Marissa Otto (Environmental Toxicology)
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