Exposing the Brutality and Cruelty
In recent years, the BUAV has carried out a number of high profile investigations into the use of primates in research, including the deliberate infliction of brain damage on marmosets at the University of Cambridge (2002) in an effort to mimic human diseases and the use of primates in toxicity testing at contract testing laboratory Covance in Germany (2003) . Both investigations received widespread international media and political attention, including in-depth coverage on the BBC flagship political programme, Newsnight. The BUAV subsequently launched a legal challenge against the UK government.
The BUAV has also produced well researched scientific reports, such as the Zero-Option and Next of Kin (with a foreword by Dr Jane Goodall) calling for an end to the use of primates in research questioning the scientific validity of their use and offering viable alternatives.
The BUAV has been responsible for exposing the brutality and cruelty inflicted on monkeys during their capture, confinement, caging, transportation and eventual death in the laboratory. We have exposed the indiscriminate trapping of monkeys who are ripped from their native habitats and family groups, the appalling conditions at holding and breeding centres, the role that airlines play in shipping thousands of monkeys every year from their countries of origin to research facilities round the world and finally, the fate awaiting these unfortunate animals at their final destination – the cold metal cages of the laboratory – in countries including, the UK, USA, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Thailand.
Monkeys subjected to invasive and painful procedures from which most will not survive - forcibly restrained, while toxic chemicals are forced down their throats, electrodes implanted in their brains or other parts of their body, deliberately brain damaged or injected with substances that will cause them to develop painful and debilitating conditions.
