Pardon Mowgli From A Life In Labs

jehall@physiology.umsmed.edu, pmay@anatomy.umsmed.edu,
swarren@anatomy.umsmed.edu, jgarrett@dor.umsmed.edu,
agrady@animal.umsmed.edu, lfulton@animal.umsmed.edu,
tseaton@animal.umsmed.edu

Dr. John Hall, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
University of Mississippi Medical Center
2500 North State Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39216

Dr. Paul May, Professor of Anatomy
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Dr. Susan Warren, Chair, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
Ms. Jean Garrett, Asst. Director, Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee
Dr. Andrew Grady, Director, Lab Animal Facilities
Dr. Linda Fulton, Asst. Director, Lab Animal Facilities
Tammy Seaton, Admin Assistant, Lab Animal Facilities


Dear Chancellor Hall and Professor May:

I write to request the swift release of a young macaque named Mowgli from your facility to an accredited sanctuary for rehabilitation and a life free from undue distress.

As you know, Mowgli is a "refugee" from the University of Connecticut Health Center, where researchers drilled permanent data chambers into the heads of monkeys, induced brain damage, and constrained some animals in straightjackets for the duration of tests. The UCHC Animal Care Committee and USDA rebuked UConn's Dr. David Waitzman for recurring violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, which ultimately led to the termination of his research.

Mowgli's ordeal should have ended with UCHC's superfluous and cruel experiments. Apparently in March 2006 a restrictive collar nearly strangled Mowgli, causing blood vessels in his face to rupture and his eyes to bleed. He endured the loss of three nonhuman primate companions (Mowgli's entire world at UCHC) only to now languish in another laboratory. I implore the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Dr. Paul May to retire Mowgli to a life free from solitude, confinement and distress.

While experimentation upon primates has not led to cures for AIDS, Alzheimer's or cancer, it has shown us that primates form complex social unions and experience a full range of emotions. Macaques are bright, perceptive creatures with physiological and psychological instincts as intricate as our own. The remarkable likeness between humans and monkeys demands our reassessment of their involuntary use in laboratory research. In addition, stress itself -- from repeated handling, injury and restraint -- can significantly obscure data intended for extrapolation to humans.

Mowgli has not undergone invasive procedures and deserves a reprieve from suffering at the hands of humans. As research evolves to more progressive human-focused methods that no longer rely upon animals, it is imperative individuals like Mowgli don't waste away in the system. I look forward to any news about Mowgli's release and relocation.

Sincerely,