Members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors voiced their concern about UW-Madison experimentation on nonhuman primates in a letter sent to Chancellor Biddy Martin Feb. 5.
In the letter, the supervisors challenged whether the All-Campus Animal Care and Use Committee could rule objectively.
Supervisor John Hendrick, District 6, one of 20 board members who signed the letter, said the salaried self-interests of AC-ACUC members call into question their ability to impartially tackle the difficult ethical questions posed by nonhuman primate research.
""The question is, can people funded to do research make a disinterested decision about whether or not it is really right to do it?"" Hendrick said.
Although UW-Madison operates the primate labs, the county supervisors said they believe they have a role to play in overseeing the research.
""The county has a historical relationship to this issue because the county owns the [Vilas] Zoo. We are concerned about animal welfare in general,"" Hendrick said.
Much of the UW-Madison primate populations can be traced directly back to Vilas Zoo, according to Hendrick. Monkeys were transferred back and forth between Vilas Zoo and UW-Madison research labs at one time, he said.
""That was the original basis of the county being involved in the primate issues,"" Hendrick said.
The Chancellor's Office has yet to issue a formal response to the board's letter, though Martin and UW-Madison have confronted similar criticism in the past.
Last November, Martin defended both the ethics and motives behind primate research being conducted at UW-Madison in a letter in response to criticism.
""The general consensus in the scientific community is that research with nonhuman primates, when properly conducted, is consistent with scientific and ethical norms,"" Martin said. ""The research aims of the university are clear—understanding the causes and developing treatments to the most devastating human medical conditions.""
In December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited sanitation, ventilation and enclosure concerns within UW-Madison animal facilities in a 10-page, detailed report that has intensified criticism of the research. The USDA cleared UW-Madison as compliant with all animal welfare standards in January.
""I don't want to prejudge the ethics issue, but I think the question is whether the research is being properly conducted."" Hendrick said. ""That cannot be answered until there is a more public and independent process to address that question.""
A public debate on the ethics of animal research is scheduled for March 15 at Memorial Union between Rick Bogle, co-director of the Alliance for Animals, and UW-Madison researcher Paul Kaufman.
