Columbia Univ. Cruelty

[Timber Loftis]

A PETA investigation has revealed grotesque abuses to animals in laboratories at Columbia University, including subjecting baboons to invasive surgeries and leaving them to suffer and die in their cages without any painkillers. This horrific story came to our attention when a courageous whistleblower, Dr. Catherine Dell’Orto, a postdoctoral veterinary fellow at Columbia, stepped forward to tell us what she had witnessed.

While investigators from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the university’s own internal investigation have concluded that Columbia failed to provide even basic post-surgical care, adequate veterinary care, and euthanasia to animals used in experiments, the torture continues. PETA is calling on Columbia to end the following three crude and cruel experiments, which have no practical value:

• Strokes artificially induced in baboons by removing their left eyeballs to reach and clamp a critical blood vessel to their brains and administer experimental drugs. Animal records reveal baboons hunched over in their cages, unable to drink, chew, or lift their heads, and left without veterinary care.

• Monkeys with metal pipes surgically implanted in their skulls for the sole purpose of inducing stress in order to study the connection between stress and women’s menstrual cycles. One monkey, left alone to recover from the hideous implant surgery, was photographed with blood running down her face long after she had come out of anesthesia. The animals were given nothing but an aspirin after the anesthetics wore off.

• Twenty years of pumping nicotine and morphine into pregnant baboons who are strapped into backpacks full of instrumentation and tethered inside their metal cages. Their babies undergo surgery while still in utero. One baboon lost 40 percent of her body weight, and her severe bone infection was left untreated. Another baboon endured five surgeries—all approved by Columbia’s ineffectual Animal Care and Use Committee.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

That's an absolutely HORRIFIC account of animal abuse, Timber. It is especially sad to think that such "barbaric" treatment occurs at one of our nation's leading university's .

I'm not a big fan of P.E.T.A. by any stretch of the imagination. Nowadays, they raise a LOT of fuss over issues that really are NOT legitimate cases of animal abuse (such as trying to break up Bass Fishing Tournaments). I think that often forget it is cases such as THIS that led to them being formed in the first place. Then again, maybe they are a victim of their own success.

Practices such as this used to be MUCH more common place before the formation of P.E.T.A. They have been successful in dramatically reducing the number of such horrible cases of abuse. But in doing so, their membership has grown while the number of "legitimate" issues for them to attack has shrunk....leaving them to "grasp at straws" when searching for animal abuse cases in some circumstances.

But this time they got it dead on. THIS is the type of abuse that P.E.T.A. was formed to try to stop. I'm glad they learned of the abuse and investigated, so that the public could be made aware of the what is going on.

[Pikachu_PM]

I'm still dumbfounded how anybody could treat ANY living animal this way. This is absolutley horrible. WTF is wrong with people?! I hope Yorick sees this as it furthers my point on what an un-ideal world we live in.

****ing monsters. The only fight I ever started in my life was when one of my "friends" decided it would be fun to shoot bb's at little animals...he refused to stop. When he hit a rabbit I watched the poor thing try and limp off...I was watching in horror as the bastard started to aim again to "hit its other leg" when something in me snapped. I've never been a violent person, but I sent that SOB home bloody with no regrets...I remember I kept yelling "How do you like it you pieceof ****." I still don't know what exactly came over me...

[Yorick]

Why say that Pikachu? Idealism is the very thing that drives animal lovers to stamp out this sort of treatment of animals.

I've been buying free range eggs (cage free eggs) for years for example. Dolphin safe tuna. No fur. Shampoos and other products that clearly state no animals were tested.

The fact this has even been brought to light is a result of idealism. Envisioning a future where we do not treat animals in such horrific and calloussed manner. Many societies no longer do. Animal cruelty is illegal in many societies. That fact that there is uproar over this proves our values have collectively changed.

[Zero Alpha]

[img]graemlins/1puke.gif[/img]

kill them. kill them all. (the experimenters that is).

or better yet, scince i hate the death penalty, how about an eye for an eye. we should let some monkeys experiment on them

[Pikachu_PM]

Originally posted by Yorick: Why say that Pikachu? Idealism is the very thing that drives animal lovers to stamp out this sort of treatment of animals. I've been buying free range eggs (cage free eggs) for years for example. Dolphin safe tuna. No fur. Shampoos and other products that clearly state no animals were tested. The fact this has even been brought to light is a result of idealism. Envisioning a future where we do not treat animals in such horrific and calloussed manner. Many societies no longer do. Animal cruelty is illegal in many societies. That fact that there is uproar over this proves our values have collectively changed.

Ah, you're absolutely right...idealism is what helps stop these things, but how do they do so? The create laws to punish ppl who commit these kinds of acts. I brought your name up because I see these experimenters as good examples of how there are bad/selfish/cruel ppl in the world. I assure you, if no legal actions were brought to bare against these ppl, they would continue the experiments despite an protest by others. Idealism is good, but realistic tools must be used to promote the ideals. These people will not stop being cruel to animals because you, I, and the rest of the Iron works forum gets up and declares "THERE WILL BE NO MORE CRUELTY TO ANIMALS". Punishments must be implemented to have people conform to the ideal--which then begs the question, is the solution then at all ideal?

Of course that begs the greater question...whose ideal? My notion of an ideal society is far from yours I'm sure. I'd like a world where Religion, while accepted and practiced, no longer inhibits the mind and promotes intolerance. You, I'm sure (if I'm wrong--feel free to correct me) would like a world where everybody is Christian. How boring a place that would be---but then, thats my opinion in regards to YOUR (assumed) ideal.

[ 12-07-2003, 11:58 AM: Message edited by: Pikachu_PM ]