Opinion: Animal experimentation is wrong, no matter how a creature reacts to pain

To the editor: In the interview with primate experimenter ww, the argument is made that because animal experimentation causes high levels of suffering for the animal involved, only the most resilient animals should be used. While Bentson’s desire to reveal the extreme suffering in monkeys is laudable, she represents an untenable position. (“How one scientist came to defend animals used in research,” Nov. 12)

Resiliency in animals can easily be misinterpreted, and it is dangerous to conclude that animals showing decreased signs of pain experience that pain any less acutely. As a former emergency medicine clinician, I saw animals all the time that were “stoic” in their expressions of pain. Signs they might be suffering often go overlooked.

Targeting only the animals deemed most “resilient” to pain is a flawed approach that undermines the already shaky basis of animal experimentation. We don’t need monkeys who are better at coping with pain and mental anguish. We need well-designed, human-based studies that produce relevant and applicable results.

Ingrid Taylor, Norfolk, Va.

The writer, a veterinary physician, is a laboratory investigations researcher with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

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