Chimpanzees Suffer Psychologically Like Humans

BOSTON, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A recent study documents the severe
emotional trauma chimpanzees suffer as a result of laboratory use and
confinement. Developmental Context Effects on Bicultural Post-Trauma Self
Repair in Chimpanzees was published in the September issue, Vol. 45 (5), of
the American Psychological Association journal Developmental Psychology.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090909/DC72238)

Psychologists G.A. Bradshaw, Ph.D., Ph.D., Theodora Capaldo, Ed.D., Lorin
Lindner, Ph.D., and Gloria Grow, Fauna sanctuary director, examined the case
histories of three chimpanzees -- Billy Jo, Tom, and Regis -- all used in
research before rescue into sanctuary. The study underscores the ethical
implications of cross-fostering nonhuman primates and their use in research.

Says Dr. Capaldo, president of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society
(NEAVS): "A federal bill to end the use of chimpanzees in research (the Great
Ape Protection Act, H.R. 1326) has been introduced. Studies like ours expose
the reality of what it is like for approximately 1000 chimpanzees languishing
in U.S. labs. Chimpanzee research must stop if we are to end the suffering
caused by decisions -- both scientifically flawed and ethically unjustifiable
-- to use them as living test tubes."

Billy Jo lived like a human child from infancy to his teenage years when he
was sent to a lab. He spent his next fourteen years alone in a 5'X5'X7' cage,
enduring hundreds of procedures. He was rescued into sanctuary at age 29 and
died only 8 years later.

Tom's family was killed in Africa in order to capture him. He spent decades in
three different labs undergoing multiple procedures including 369 "knockdowns"
-- anesthesia by dart gun. Every morning, Tom gags uncontrollably -- the
result of repeated intubations.

Regis, born in a lab, was only 2 years old when he was treated for his first
stress-related injury -- he had chewed his finger nail completely off. Regis,
fearful if left alone, suffers severe anxiety attacks in which he nearly stops
breathing.

The chimpanzees' symptoms are consistent with traumatic stress, depression,
and other psychological conditions. Post-Trauma Self Repair in Chimpanzees
follows Building an Inner Sanctuary: Complex PTSD in Chimpanzees (published
April 2008 in the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation), which represented the
first time human psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses were applied to
chimpanzees, demonstrating that psychological suffering crosses species lines.
Together, the papers provide irrefutable arguments to the growing ethical
imperative to end the use of chimpanzees in U.S. research.

SOURCE New England Anti-Vivisection Society

Karen Smith, NEAVS, +1-617-523-6020, +1-617-413-0611, ksmith@neavs.org