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Primates - Time for a Ban!
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Why should primate experiments be banned?
All animal experiments are wrong and the ECEAE is opposed to them all. There is, however, increasing recognition among scientists, decision-makers and the public of the welfare and scientific problems that primate experiments cause – and so there is a good chance that such a ban might be achieved sooner rather than later.
Similarities between human and non-human primates mean that scientists have favoured their use in animal-based research for many years.
But it is precisely these similarities that make their suffering so severe and their use as tools for research so unjustifiable. Intelligent, sociable and with complex needs, primates suffer particularly in a laboratory setting. They are also subjected to many distressing and intense experiments, such as being infected with contagious diseases and undergoing brain surgery.
Not only is their use morally wrong, but it’s scientifically flawed as well. For all their behavioural similarities, primates just aren’t similar enough to us to prove reliable models for human diseases, as the examples on these pages illustrate.
Alternatives already exist, but are in many cases in their infancy due to inertia amongst researchers and scientists. The ECEAE believes that a real commitment to investing in these alternatives is vital, in order that they can flourish and convince scientists of their superiority to outmoded animal models.
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How many primates are used - and which ones?
Around 10,000 primates are used every year for scientific experiments in the EU. Many more are held in laboratories and supply companies, where they’re bred to make sure that the vivisection industry has a steady supply of research ‘subjects’.
Marmosets and macaques are the most commonly used primates. Others include tamarins, squirrel, owl and spider monkeys. Great apes have already been legally banned for use in experimentation in the Netherlands and Austria due to the recognition that it is unjustifiable to inflict any suffering upon them whatsoever, and other member states have stated that they will not grant licenses for experiments on Great Apes, though it has not been made illegal.
The United Kingdom is the largest user of primates in the European Union using 3,115 in 2005 (source: UK Home Office), France is the second (2,322; European Commisison, 2003) and Germany the third with 2,084 primates (European Commission, 2003).
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Over 10,000 primates are
used in the EU every year.
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Where do the primates come from?
A large number of the primates used, mainly macaques, are imported from supply centres in countries such as Mauritius, China, Indonesia and the USA. In many of these countries, wild primates are captured in considerable numbers. Some states have adopted a policy of banning the use of wild-caught primates, but exceptions are still made.
Those primates not imported are either specially bred at the facilities at which they are used, or supplied by other facilities in the EU.
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How are the primates treated?
Research and undercover investigations by organisations from the European Coalition and other animal groups have revealed the true extent of primate suffering around the world – including here in the EU. This includes investigations in countries claiming to have some of the highest standards of laboratory animal protection in the world such as Germany and the UK. You can find out much more, including viewing shocking undercover video footage taken by one of our organisations, by clicking here.
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There are no regulatory requirements specifically
for the use of primates
in the European Union.
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How are the primates used?
Primate use can be categorized into three categories:
Toxicology (approximately 70%)
Medical research (approximately 17%)
Fundamental research (approximately 13%)
Toxicology
In these tests, substances (usually pharmaceuticals) are tested on primates to assess their ‘safety’ for humans. Although there’s no regulatory requirement specifically for primates to be used, their perceived similarity to humans makes them an effective legal safeguard.
Medical research
These procedures focus mainly on psychology, contagious and auto-immune conditions, and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Fundamental research
“Fundamental” research is research conducted simply to find things out, rather than to look for cures or test treatments. This kind of research on macaque monkeys, marmosets and baboons throughout Europe include basic brain research, studies of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, schizophrenia research, aerospace and defence experiments, AIDS and reproduction. Many of these experiments cause substantial suffering
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What's the alternative?
Many alternative techniques – revealingly, often known as ‘advanced methods’ – do exist. These include computer systems, cell cultures, human tissues, volunteer studies and population research. Their use and further development requires investment and a commitment to innovation. But progressive scientists are recognizing that this is investment that will be repaid with relevant, accurate and specific data.
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What does the law say?
Across the European Union, animal experiments are controlled by EU Directive 86/609/EEC. This requires the Government to balance the “cost” and “benefit” of any experiment before granting a licence for it.
When applying for a licence to test on primates, further justification is required as to why primates should be used. Importantly, there are no regulatory requirements for the specific use of primates in EU.
Great Apes are very rarely used in Europe at present – but chimpanzees are still used in Japan and, extensively, in the United States.
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Primates and human disease
The psychological and physiological similarities between humans and primates, means that scientists have favoured the use of this species group in animal based research for many years. Across the world, primate research forms one of the major areas of animal based experimentation.
The main fields of research in which primates are used around the world are neuro-physiology; reproductive biology; contagious disease research, such as AIDS, hepatitis A or C, and malaria; auto-immune diseases, immune and neurological diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Alzhemier's and Parkinson's disease; and the development, safety and batch testing of new medicines and vaccines. Primates are used as 'models' of human diseases; as with all animal experimentation, the extrapolation of test results from one species to another is a fundamentally flawed research methodology and despite their similarities, there are many significant differences between humans and non-human primates.
Despite what the research industry would have us believe primates do not provide a reliable 'model' of the human being. After decades of research on primates, scientists have repeatedly failed to make significant breakthroughs in fully understanding the onset and progression of HIV or AIDS, cot death, epilepsy, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease, or cancer - all human conditions that have been thoroughly, though pointlessly, explored through research on primates. The fundamental flaw underlying the research of human diseases in primates is that researchers can only artificially recreate the symptoms of human diseases in primates, which is very different from studying a naturally occurring disease in a biologically relevant animal such as a human patient.
Primates have extremely complex social behaviour, emotional needs and intellectual capabilities. The suffering that captive bred primates must endure not only whilst being transported to research centres, but also during their many months or years in laboratories is unimaginable, so deprived are they of environmental and social stimulus in their bare metal laboratory cages. The very similarity to humans that currently makes primates so desirable to scientists should instead lead the world to demand a ban on their use in research. It is indefensible that primates should be systematically subjected to incarceration and painful and stressful experimental procedures, and the European Coalition calls for a Europe-wide ban on the use of all primates in experiments.
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