Britches (monkey)
Encyclopedia
Britches was a stump-tailed macaque
monkey born into a breeding colony at the University of California, Riverside
(UCR). He was removed from his mother at birth, had his eyelids sewn shut, and had an electronic sonar
device attached to his head — a Trisensor Aid, an experimental version of a blind travel aid, the Sonicguide — as part of a three-year sensory-deprivation study involving 24 infant monkeys. The experiments were designed to study the behavioral and neural development of monkeys reared with a sensory substitution device.
Acting on a tip-off from a student, the Animal Liberation Front
(ALF) removed Britches from the laboratory on April 20, 1985, when he was five weeks old. The raid also saw the theft of 467 mice, cats, opossums, pigeons, rabbits, and rats, and a reported $700,000-worth of damage to equipment. A spokesman for the university said that allegations of animal mistreatment were absolutely false, and that the raid caused long-term damage to its research projects.
The ALF handed the video of their raid over to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA), which released it. The NIH conducted an eight-month investigation into the animal care program at the university and concluded it was an appropriate program, and that no corrective action was necessary.
The study was conducted by psychologist David H. Warren. Five groups of four macaques were to be raised from birth to three months, and one group to six months, blinded while wearing a Trisensor Aid. Other control groups were to wear the device with normal vision, or wear a dummy device with no vision. At the end of the experiment, the monkeys were to be killed, and the visual, auditory and motor areas in their brains would be studied.
According to PETA's president Ingrid Newkirk
, based on papers found in the lab by the ALF, the UCR researchers wrote that performing the study by artificially blinding the monkeys was necessary because there were insufficient numbers of blind human infants within driving distance of Riverside. The researchers did not want to conduct the study in the homes of blind children because of the difficulty of carrying out the research amid routine household chores, according to Newkirk.
Newkirk writes that the ALF was alerted to the laboratory's work by a student who had reported the Britches' situation to an animal protection group, Last Chance for Animals. An ALF contact volunteering there heard the complaint, and approached the student for more information. On April 21, 1985, ALF activists, including Sally S, a businesswoman in her mid-30s, broke into the laboratory and removed Britches along with around 467 other animals, taking footage of the burglary, which they handed anonymously to PETA.
Activists say they found Britches, who was given his name by the researchers, alone in a cage with bandages around his eyes and a sonar device attached to his head. The device emitted a high-pitched noise every few minutes. He was clinging to a device covered in towelling that had two fake nipples attached, apparently intended to serve as a surrogate mother. He was handed to an ALF volunteer, a woman, who drove him from California to Utah, where he was examined by a retired pediatrician. According to UCR officials, the ALF also smashed equipment resulting in nearly $700,000-worth of damage. Theodore Hullar, UCR's executive vice chancellor, said the researchers' work had been set back years.
Ned Buyukmihci
of the University of California, Davis
, and founder of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, said after he examined Britches that the sutures used were too large, the monkey's eye pads were dirty, and that, in his view, there was no justification for what he called a sloppy, painful experiment. Bettina Flavioli, a retired pediatrician, also examined the monkey and recorded a report:
, with Dr. Grant Mack, president of the Council, calling it "one of the most repugnant and ill-conceived boondoggles
that I've heard about for a long time."
A UCR spokesman said allegations of animal mistreatment were "absolutely false," and that there would be long-term damage to some of the research projects. Researchers alleged that activists had applied black paint or mascara to the monkey's eyelids to make the sutures look larger than they were, and that damage reported by an ALF veterinarian to the eyelids had been caused by the veterinarian himself. The researchers also said that the Trisensor Aid had been removed and reattached by the ALF.
The burglary prompted the head of the National Institutes of Health
to say that thefts of laboratory animals by animal rights groups could be considered acts of terrorism, and may require enactment of federal laws. Sally Sperling, a psychologist working in the lab that was burgled, told the American Psychological Association
's Monitor on Psychology: "I can't describe in detail how [the lab] looked when I first saw it after the crime — the images are etched into my mind with acid ... My lab was my haven and refuge for eighteen years. Even when my experiment wasn't going well or the equipment was acting up, I wanted to be in my lab and missed it badly when I wasn't there. Now, I barely can make myself open the door."
As a result of the ensuing publicity, eight of the 17 studies interrupted by the burglary were not restarted, and the university stopped allowing infant monkeys' eyes to be sewn shut, according to reports filed by the university with the government. The NIH conducted an eight-month investigation into the animal care program at UC-Riverside and concluded it was an "appropriate" program, and that no corrective action was necessary. A primatologist arranged for the monkey to be socialized by a number of handlers. When he was five months old, he was flown to a sanctuary in Mexico, where he was given to an elderly female macaque who had already raised several orphans.
Stump-tailed Macaque
The stump-tailed macaque , also called the bear macaque, is a species of macaque found in Southern Asia. In India, it is found in south of the Brahmaputra river, in northeastern part of the country.Its range in India extends from Assam and Meghalaya to eastern Aruanchal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur,...
monkey born into a breeding colony at the University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...
(UCR). He was removed from his mother at birth, had his eyelids sewn shut, and had an electronic sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
device attached to his head — a Trisensor Aid, an experimental version of a blind travel aid, the Sonicguide — as part of a three-year sensory-deprivation study involving 24 infant monkeys. The experiments were designed to study the behavioral and neural development of monkeys reared with a sensory substitution device.
Acting on a tip-off from a student, the Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
(ALF) removed Britches from the laboratory on April 20, 1985, when he was five weeks old. The raid also saw the theft of 467 mice, cats, opossums, pigeons, rabbits, and rats, and a reported $700,000-worth of damage to equipment. A spokesman for the university said that allegations of animal mistreatment were absolutely false, and that the raid caused long-term damage to its research projects.
The ALF handed the video of their raid over to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
(PETA), which released it. The NIH conducted an eight-month investigation into the animal care program at the university and concluded it was an appropriate program, and that no corrective action was necessary.
The study
According to PETA's president Ingrid Newkirk
Ingrid Newkirk
Ingrid Newkirk is a British-born animal rights activist and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , the world's largest animal rights organization...
, based on papers found in the lab by the ALF, the UCR researchers wrote that performing the study by artificially blinding the monkeys was necessary because there were insufficient numbers of blind human infants within driving distance of Riverside. The researchers did not want to conduct the study in the homes of blind children because of the difficulty of carrying out the research amid routine household chores, according to Newkirk.
The burglary
Activists say they found Britches, who was given his name by the researchers, alone in a cage with bandages around his eyes and a sonar device attached to his head. The device emitted a high-pitched noise every few minutes. He was clinging to a device covered in towelling that had two fake nipples attached, apparently intended to serve as a surrogate mother. He was handed to an ALF volunteer, a woman, who drove him from California to Utah, where he was examined by a retired pediatrician. According to UCR officials, the ALF also smashed equipment resulting in nearly $700,000-worth of damage. Theodore Hullar, UCR's executive vice chancellor, said the researchers' work had been set back years.
Medical report
Veterinarian ophthalmologistOphthalmology
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...
Ned Buyukmihci
Ned Buyukmihci
Ned Buyukmihci is a doctor of veterinary medicine, specializing in veterinary ophthalmology, and founder of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights. In August 2003, he took up a position as director of the Animal Protection Institute's primate sanctuary for non-human primates in Dilley,...
of the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
, and founder of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, said after he examined Britches that the sutures used were too large, the monkey's eye pads were dirty, and that, in his view, there was no justification for what he called a sloppy, painful experiment. Bettina Flavioli, a retired pediatrician, also examined the monkey and recorded a report:
"Attached to infant's head by means of bandage and tape is an apparatus of some sort with what appears to be some sort of electrical cord extending from it. It has been cut. Bilaterally are short lengths of tubing emerging from the bandage. Tape is in direct contact with the face and neck. Bandage lifted rostrally from right eye due to excessive moisture and right eye partially visible.
Beneath the bandages are two cotton pads, one for each eye ... Both pads are filthy and soaked with moisture. Bilaterally upper eyelids are sutured to lower eyelids. The sutures are grossly oversized for the purpose intended. Many of these sutures have torn through lid tissue resulting in multiple lacerations of the lids. There is an open space between upper and lower lids of both eyes of about one quarter inch, and sutures are contacting corneaCorneaThe cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. In humans, the refractive power of the cornea is...
l tissue resulting in excessive tearing ...
Infant demonstrates photophobiaPhotophobiaPhotophobia is a symptom of abnormal intolerance to visual perception of light. As a medical symptom photophobia is not a morbid fear or phobia, but an experience of discomfort or pain to the eyes due to light exposure or by presence of actual physical photosensitivity of the eyes, though the term...
. Penis of infant is edemaEdemaEdema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...
tous and inflamed. There are smegmaSmegmaSmegma is a combination of exfoliated epithelial cells, transudated skin oils, and moisture. It occurs in both female and male mammalian genitalia.-Human smegma:Both females and males produce smegma...
accumulations. Generalized muscle development poor. Skin dry. Body odor foul."
Reaction
PETA released a film called Britches that included footage from the burglary and the ALF's treatment of the monkey afterwards. The film prompted criticism of the experiments from other scientists and the American Council of the BlindAmerican Council of the Blind
The American Council of the Blind is a nationwide organization in the United States. It is an organization mainly made up of blind and visually impaired people who want to achieve independence and equality .-History:The American Council of the Blind was formed out of the dissolution of the...
, with Dr. Grant Mack, president of the Council, calling it "one of the most repugnant and ill-conceived boondoggles
Boondoggle (project)
A boondoggle is a project that is considered to waste time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy motivations.- Etymology :...
that I've heard about for a long time."
A UCR spokesman said allegations of animal mistreatment were "absolutely false," and that there would be long-term damage to some of the research projects. Researchers alleged that activists had applied black paint or mascara to the monkey's eyelids to make the sutures look larger than they were, and that damage reported by an ALF veterinarian to the eyelids had been caused by the veterinarian himself. The researchers also said that the Trisensor Aid had been removed and reattached by the ALF.
The burglary prompted the head of the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
to say that thefts of laboratory animals by animal rights groups could be considered acts of terrorism, and may require enactment of federal laws. Sally Sperling, a psychologist working in the lab that was burgled, told the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
's Monitor on Psychology: "I can't describe in detail how [the lab] looked when I first saw it after the crime — the images are etched into my mind with acid ... My lab was my haven and refuge for eighteen years. Even when my experiment wasn't going well or the equipment was acting up, I wanted to be in my lab and missed it badly when I wasn't there. Now, I barely can make myself open the door."
As a result of the ensuing publicity, eight of the 17 studies interrupted by the burglary were not restarted, and the university stopped allowing infant monkeys' eyes to be sewn shut, according to reports filed by the university with the government. The NIH conducted an eight-month investigation into the animal care program at UC-Riverside and concluded it was an "appropriate" program, and that no corrective action was necessary. A primatologist arranged for the monkey to be socialized by a number of handlers. When he was five months old, he was flown to a sanctuary in Mexico, where he was given to an elderly female macaque who had already raised several orphans.
Further reading
- Britches tribute website "www.britches.org.uk"
- Warren, David H. and Strelow, Edward R. Electronic Spatial Sensing for the Blind. Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Visual Spatial Prosthesis for the Blind. Held at Lake Arrowhead, California, September 10–13, 1984. Springer, 1985.
- Khan, Ali Yousaf Ali. "Angels of Mercy", Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, June 24, 2006; includes footage of Britches. - Mann, Keith. From Dawn 'Til Dusk. Puppy Pincher Press, 2007; features Britches on the front cover.
- "NIH Reauthorization and Protection of Health Facilities: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Energy and Commerce," Washington 1991.
- "Pro-Animal ALF Flouts Law in Name of Compassion," Sacramento Bee, February 15, 1998.
- Philadelphia Inquirer, p. A10, April 22, 1985.