Internationally renowned ethologist Jane Goodall, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and United Nations Messenger of Peace, joined animal welfare groups in Germany, United Kingdom and France (Ärzte gegen Tierversuche eV, Cruelty Free International and One Voice) to help see the end of the controversial neuroscience experiments practiced on monkeys at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (IMP) in Tübingen, and asks that the surviving animals are released in a sanctuary.
In recent years, the IMP has become the target of media and public controversy following a long campaign by the association Ärzte gegen Tierversuche eV and the publication, in 2014, of videos shot by hidden cameras that revealed the extreme suffering of primates, victims of neuroscientific experiments including severe water deprivation and physical and psychological constraints (1). And a campaign led by One Voice in France, the home country of some of the primates.
Two years later, in 2016, the IMP announced that it would stop using primates as part of these controversial experiments. Despite a first initiative of the Institute to place some surviving monkeys into a sanctuary, no information on the real destiny and fate of these animals has been made public. It is feared that the IMP has sent at least ten of them to other European laboratories to continue to be used in experiments.
Dr. Jane Goodall gave an inspiring lecture in December in Tübingen organized by Ärzte gegen Tierversuche. She spoke passionately about the use of primates in invasive and cruel experiments and said, "I welcome the news that these disturbing experiments on monkeys at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (IMP), in Tübingen, Germany, will no longer take place. Nevertheless, I am saddened to learn that the monkeys were not released into a sanctuary but instead sent to other laboratories, probably for use in other experiments. I join forces with Cruelty Free International, Ärzte gegen Tierversuche and One Voice to demand that their situation be made public and urges the Max Planck Institute to organize the immediate transfer of these monkeys to a sanctuary. These poor beings have suffered enough and deserve to live the rest of their lives far from the privations and confinement of the laboratories. "
In November 2016, One Voice, Ärzte gegen Tierversuche eV and Cruelty Free International submitted their application to Mr Klaus Tappeser, President of the Administrative District of Tübingen, requesting the publication of information on the current situation and the fate of all primates held by the IMP.
Notes
1. (https://www.crueltyfreeinterna... ...)
Here is what the monkeys of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics have been subjected to:
- Highly invasive surgeries involving the implantation of electrodes and / or brain input devices into the brain.
- Deprivation of water to compel them to do what researchers want.
- Physical constraints (including for example the use of a collar and a post) to force them out of their cages and "acclimatize" to the restraint (restraint chair called "primate chair" where they are held by the neck and body in an abnormal and uncomfortable position.
- Thirsty, the monkeys are held by the electrodes and reduced to immobility by the compression device so that researchers can record their brains by looking at computer screens or thrust levers. This can last up to five hours a day, five days a week.
- Monkeys have been held for years and continuously used in this type of research.
For more information, please contact:
Ärzte-gegen-Tierversuche e.V
One Voice - Muriel Arnal, President, Phone: 00 33 6 79 83 1661
Cruelty Free International Media Office: +44 (0) 207 619 6978 or +44 (0) 7850 510 955 or Email: media@crueltyfreeinternational.org
