Tell Universities that Primates Must Go to a Sanctuary, Not Another Laboratory !

CU Plans to Send Monkeys to Wake Forest for More Research

IDA has long condemned the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) for their cruel and controversial experiments on monkeys and for holding 34 (now 48) of these primates in sub-standard conditions after they have already suffered so much at the hands of researchers.

Our campaign to get the CU 34 transferred to a sanctuary has garnered strong nationwide support from the public and influential academics, yet now UCDHSC has announced plans to send 38 monkeys to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for further exploitation.

Many of these bonnet macaque monkeys were used in Mark Laudenslager's widely criticized research on the effects of separating infant monkeys from their mothers and whether poor mothering leads to alcohol abuse in adolescent monkeys.

Documents obtained by IDA under Colorado's open records law indicate that even though the monkeys are to be transferred, Laudenslager will continue to oversee the alcohol studies long-distance from the CU medical center in Denver.

Laudenslager has already wasted $7 million in tax dollars conducting maternal separation experiments over the course of 17 long years. The first year of his new alcohol study has been funded with nearly $800,000 in federal grant funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

"This is a shameless attempt by CU to dodge its ethical obligations to these monkeys and dump its problem on another university 2,000 miles away," said Rita Anderson of the Committee for Research Accountability (CRA), a project of IDA. Anderson vowed not only to continue her efforts at CU, but also to follow the monkeys to Wake Forest, should the transfer take place, with protests and community action.

Psychologists and other professionals have criticized the experiments for being irrelevant to human health and a huge waste of tax dollars. CU faculty member and well-known ethologist Marc Bekoff recently spoke out against transferring the monkeys to Wake Forest, stating, "The University ought to release the CU 34 to a sanctuary and stop using these wonderful beings as pawns - mere objects - in a heartless self-serving economic ploy."

IDA founder and President Dr. Elliot Katz, a veterinarian, strongly agrees with Bekoff. "It would be grossly irresponsible for CU to move ahead with the plan to send these monkeys to North Carolina," he said. "They have suffered loss and deprivation for years at CU, living most of their lives in a 100 year-old basement which did not even meet federal standards.

These long-suffering primates deserve a chance to live their final years in the relative freedom of a sanctuary." IDA has also sent letters to Wake Forest University President Nathan Hatch and President and CEO Richard H. Dean urging them to drop their plans or become the target of redoubled protests and unwelcome negative media attention.

Although CU administration told IDA that the university would require $10,000 to $15,000 per monkey before it would relocate them to a sanctuary, they will not charge Wake Forest a single cent for the primates. The university now says it will release 10 of 48 monkeys to a sanctuary, but it is unclear whether CU will even pay the costs associated with their transport and upkeep. Even if they do, 38 monkeys will continue to be used against their will as experimental subjects.

Write to CU and Wake Forest officials and politely urge them to transfer the monkeys to a sanctuary, not another laboratory. Even a few sentences written in your own words will get the point across.

- Please ask CU officials to 1) immediately terminate Mark Laudenslager's pointless alcohol study, 2) release all of the monkeys to sanctuaries and 3) pay for the sanctuary care of these monkeys.

Hank Brown, President: OfficeOfThePresident@cu.edu
Health Sciences Chancellor Gregory Stiegmann: Greg.Stiegmann@UCHSC.edu

- Please ask Wake Forest officials to decline CU's offer of free monkeys. Otherwise, IDA will focus its protests not only on CU, but on Wake Forest as well.

Nathan Hatch, President: hatch@wfu.edu
Richard Dean, President/CEO Health Sciences: rdean@wfubmc.edu
William Gordon, Provost: gordonwc@wfu.edu
William Applegate, Sr. VP Health Sciences/Dean of School of Medicine: gordonwc@wfu.edu
Mark Welker, Assoc. Provost for Research: wapplega@wfubmc.edu

[url=http://freethecu34.org]

CU Officials' Phone
President Brown 303-492-6201
Chancellor Stiegmann 303-315-7682
Regents Secretary 303-492-8203
Please also contact Wake Forest University officials...
To respectfully ask that they reconsider and refuse the offer of free primates from the University of Colorado.
Click here for our February 2006 letter to Wake Forest University or read it in our updates.

Nathan Hatch, President
hatch@wfu.edu
336-758-5212
Richard Dean, President/CEO Health Sciences
rdean@wfubmc.edu336-716-7425

WILLIAM GORDON, PROVOST
gordonwc@wfu.edu
336-758-7323
William Applegate, Sr. VP Health Sciences/Dean of School of Medicine
wapplega@wfubmc.edu
336-716-5026

Mark Welker, Assoc. Provost for Research
welker@wfu.edu
336-758-3898


Write letters to the editor
Tell your friends and family to get involved

Contact Us
Committee for Research Accountability 303-527-3372

CU Officials' Phone
President Brown 303-492-6201
Chancellor Stiegmann 303-315-7682
Regents Secretary 303-492-8203
Please also contact Wake Forest University officials...
To respectfully ask that they reconsider and refuse the offer of free primates from the University of Colorado.
Click here for our February 2006 letter to Wake Forest University or read it in our updates.

Nathan Hatch, President
hatch@wfu.edu
336-758-5212
Richard Dean, President/CEO Health Sciences
rdean@wfubmc.edu336-716-7425

WILLIAM GORDON, PROVOST
gordonwc@wfu.edu
336-758-7323
William Applegate, Sr. VP Health Sciences/Dean of School of Medicine
wapplega@wfubmc.edu
336-716-5026

Mark Welker, Assoc. Provost for Research
welker@wfu.edu
336-758-3898

Committee for Research Accountability 303-527-3372
Colorado University Officials' Phone
President Brown 303-492-6201
Chancellor Stiegmann 303-315-7682
Regents Secretary 303-492-8203
Please also contact Wake Forest University officials...
To respectfully ask that they reconsider and refuse the offer of free primates from the University of Colorado.

Nathan Hatch, President
hatch@wfu.edu
336-758-5212
Richard Dean, President/CEO Health Sciences
rdean@wfubmc.edu336-716-7425

WILLIAM GORDON, PROVOST
gordonwc@wfu.edu
336-758-7323
William Applegate, Sr. VP Health Sciences/Dean of School of Medicine
wapplega@wfubmc.edu
336-716-5026

Mark Welker, Assoc. Provost for Research
welker@wfu.edu
336-758-3898


Spread the Word
Email this site to someone!
Chalk "www.FreeTheCU34.org" for everyone to see (please chalk responsibly)
Write letters to the editor
Tell your friends and family to get involved

Contact Us
Committee for Research Accountability 303-527-3372
Nathan Hatch, President
hatch@wfu.edu
336-758-5212
Richard Dean, President/CEO Health Sciences
rdean@wfubmc.edu336-716-7425

WILLIAM GORDON, PROVOST
gordonwc@wfu.edu
336-758-7323
William Applegate, Sr. VP Health Sciences/Dean of School of Medicine
wapplega@wfubmc.edu
336-716-5026

Mark Welker, Assoc. Provost for Research
welker@wfu.edu
336-758-3898

Spread the Word
Chalk "www.FreeTheCU34.org" for everyone to see (please chalk responsibly)
Write letters to the editor, Tell your friends and family to get involved.

Contact Us
Committee for Research Accountability 303-527-3372

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