In the third presentation in a series of talks on primate research Tuesday, members of the Alliance for Animals Primate Freedom Project and the Madison Coalition for Animal Rights asserted that UW-Madison primate research is unnecessary.
\In order to learn about humans, we must study humans,"" said Dawn Coobley, a physical therapist and Alliance member.
Presenters discussed the welfare of the 2,000 monkeys in the university's Harlow Primate Lab.
According to presenter Rick Bogle, cognition in monkeys makes them good candidates for on-campus drug testing and toxicity and cancer studies to find out the effects in humans.
Currently, $60 million is given to the university for primate research per year. Despite the funding, according to Bogle, ""A lot of discoveries at the UW Primate Research Center can be debunked.""
Eric Sandgren, chair of All Campus Animal Care and Use Committee, said the research is vital to science.
""There are some questions that only can be answered by doing primate research,"" he said.
He is responsible for ensuring that test animals are used according to federal and local regulations.
""Whenever someone talks about humane practices, you never find complete information. The public does not know enough about research, therefore they are unable to take action,"" Bogle said.
Dan Stuntebeck, a graduate student in educational technology and a leader of MCAR said the public is restricted access to research information.
""When I go to Institutional Animal Care Use Committee meetings to hear about potential studies, I am only allowed to attend a portion of the forum,"" he said.
Sangren said he has attended two previous Alliance meetings, where other researchers were verbally berated.
""Its clearly not a forum for discussion,"" he said.
Conversely, the Alliance said the university declined three times to meet with them.
""The university doesn't want to lose grants-especially those from the National Institute of Health, which provides about $56 million of primate research funds,"" member Rick Marolt said, stressing that the public must step in because NIH funds are growing.
Sandgren said he sees the legitimacy of both sides of the issue.
""It's just when one side tries to pretend that there is no cost to their solution that I think it is a problem,"" he added.
