Ivy League school’s practice draws protest

Deepa Bharath

More than a dozen people protested outside the Four Seasons Hotel

Monday evening against Columbia’s University’s use of monkeys for

scientific experiments and research.

The demonstration, organized by People for the Ethical Treatment

of Animals, deliberately coincided with the Columbia University

Alumni Assn.’s dinner party at the hotel.

The university does not provide even basic post-surgical or

veterinary care or anesthesia to animals used in these experiments,

said Alka Chandna, a spokeswoman for the animal rights organization.

“The baboons are taken away from their families,” she said. “They

are isolated and imprisoned in cages and the university won’t even

provide a suitable environment for them.”

The university has a different point of view on the issue, said

Susan K. Feagin, Executive Vice President for University Development

and Alumni Relations.

“There have been very important cures and benefits which have come

out of this type of research,” she said. “I appreciate the role of

animal research in scientific advancement and support the university

on this issue.”

Chandna said one of the experiments involves inducing strokes in

baboons by removing their left eyeballs to reach and clamp a blood

vessel connected to their brains.

Scientists also implant heavy metal pipes in the skulls of female

monkeys to cause stress and study the connection between stress and

the menstrual cycle, she said. A third experiment involves pumping

nicotine and morphine into pregnant baboons and operating on the

fetuses to study the effects of those drugs on the babies, she said.

“We already know nicotine causes birth defects in fetuses,”

Chandna said. “These studies are unnecessary.”

Chandna, who was dressed in prison attire and wore a monkey mask,

sat in a metal cage on the sidewalk.

“We want to conjure a powerful image for the public to show them

what these animals are going through,” she said.

Newport Beach resident Jaime Smith said she came to join the

protest because she doesn’t believe these experiments contribute

anything to research.

“These experiments are just inhumane,” she said.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.