Slaughter of the Innocent

Part c

Joplin taught me an important lesson. She had every choice, every freedom stolen from her. But they couldn't take her spirit, her will to survive. In the harshest of conditions, she never gave up. It is because of her and millions like her that we must never give up in our struggle for the abolition of animal experimentation.

After gathering video and documentary evidence, I quit the lab and blew the whistle. Much came of that and the campaign rages on, but the best thing that came out of it was the release of 22 of the capuchin monkeys who had lived with Snicker. Able to breathe fresh air and interact with each other for the first time, it was amazing to see how quickly they recovered and became stronger.

Five years on, I am working for in Defense of Animals (IDA), and continue the campaign to educate the public about how their taxes are squandered to needlessly torture primates and other animals. There may have been a few welfare changes resulting from the public outcry and news headlines. The lab claims to be doing more social housing and giving the indoor housed monkeys more fruit, but the most notable change is the increase in the lab's monkey population. When I left in 2000, ONPRC had 2,500 non-human primates; they now boast more than 3,700 monkeys, increasing by a third in only five years.

World-renowned primatologist, Dr Jane Goodall, has lent her voice to a public service announcement denouncing this primate research. IDA has launched a boycott campaign directed at OHSU's (Oregon Health & Science University) health care business. With ongoing leafleting, we share information with the public about the horrors occurring in the University's animal labs and encourage people to choose a different health care provider, hitting their pocketbook, where it hurts the most. IDA also recently won a lawsuit, filed in 200, over public records against OHSU.

I continue to find hope in these incremental victories, while working in solidarity with activists around the globe to eventually empty all the labs' cages.

For more information visit http://www.boycottohsu.com