The American Society of Primatologists

Mental illness is a common response to powerlessness in situations involving torture, social isolation, separation, and/or moderate to extreme deprivation. This phenomenon is well known from studies of human torture victims, solitary confinement of prisoners, and institutionalized children.

Such induced mental illness has been demonstrated experimentally in mice, rats, dogs, and many other species including various primates. The primate vivisection community claims that the research they conduct is humane.

Jordana Lenon, for instance, says on her homepage:

I have been public information officer at the [Wisconsin National] Primate Research Center for six years. I love the writing, working with the media and visitors, and learning more about people's experiences and beliefs. My experience is that, by far, most people support progress in medical research using animals and know we treat our animals well.

The Oregon National Primate Research Center says:

We give the monkeys toys, rotated on a biweekly basis to provide novel stimuli, that promote exploration. The monkeys have the opportunity to watch television and listen to the radio.

The American Society of Primatologists (ASP) says:

There has been a great deal of interest in determining the conditions under which captive nonhuman primates display 'psychological well-being', and how their well-being can be enhanced.

(The statement above was written by past ASP president John Capitanio, a primate vivisector at the California National Primate Research Center.

ASP held its 2007 annual conference on June 20-23, in Winston-Salem, NC. It was hosted by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, with a 1,089 size monkey colony (2006 data, the most recent available.) The conference schedule, along with abstracts of the oral and poster presentations, is available on the ASP website.

No one critical of the use of monkeys was allowed to attend.

Public posturing by primate vivisectors always includes claims that primate experimentation is humane. But, in fact, typical laboratory conditions are anything but humane and result in mental illness. This is a real similarity between humans and the monkeys and apes kept in captive situation, especially at the primate labs.

The primate vivisectors acknowledge these problems among themselves; it's not that they care about the animals any more than a mechanic cares for a car, but that mentally ill monkeys require increased veterinary care. The mental illness associated with captivity in a laboratory setting manifests as stereotypic behaviors, or stereotypies, such as repetitive rocking or cage circling, self-directed threats, self-wounding (self-injurious behavior – SIB), severe over-grooming, penis sucking, and various bizarre behaviors.

Below, are the titles of oral and poster presentations from the 2007 ASP conference that were associated with the widespread mental illnesses induced by this inherently cruel industry.

THE EXPRESSION OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR IN MACACA MULATTA: PREVALENCE, RISK FACTORS, AND CONTEXT
C. K. Lutz, E. B. Davis, J. S. Meyer, S. J. Suomi, M. A. Novak

NEUROBIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF FLOATING LIMB ACTIVITY AND SELF-BITING IN LABORATORY MONKEYS
K. L. Bentson, H. Bielefeldt-Ohmann, A. Chicz-DeMet, C. A. Sandman, C. M. Crockett

DOES ONE VIEW OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR (SIB) FIT ALL?
M. A. Novak, M. D. Davenport, C. K. Lutz, J. S. Meyer

SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR IN RHESUS MACAQUES: EARLY HISTORY AND PRESENT FACTORS AND THE ROLE OF THE SEROTONIN SYSTEM
J. D. Higley, E. Davis, R. A. Woodward, S. J. Suomi

ALTERATIONS IN THE SEROTONIN SYSTEM OF MONKEYS EXHIBITING SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIORS
J. Henderson, K. Coleman, C. L. Bethea

FLUOXETINE DOSE FINDING STUDY FOR TREATMENT OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR IN MACACA MULATTA
M. B. Fontenot, G. M. Anderson

EFFECTS OF A COMPLEX ENRICHMENT DEVICE ON STEREOTYPIC BEHAVIORS, TOOL USE, TOOL MANUFACTURING, AND ACTIVITY BUDGETS IN CAPTIVE WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLAS (GORILLA GORILLA GORILLA)
K. A. Jarvis, J. E. Gould

BEHAVIORAL RESPONSE TO BRIEF, EARLY SEPARATION PREDICTS DEVELOPMENT OF STEREOTYPY IN RHESUS MONKEYS (MACACA MULATTA)
J. Vandeleest, J. Capitanio, B. McCowan

BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES BY SINGLY-HOUSED ADULT RHESUS MACAQUES (MACACA MULATTA) DURING HUMAN INTERACTION AND POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING
M. A. Maloney, K. C. Baker, C. Griffis, K. Neu, M. Bloomsmith, M. Martinez

THE EFFECTS OF POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING ON ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR IN SINGLY-HOUSED ADULT RHESUS MACAQUES (MACACA MULATTA)
C. Griffis, K. C. Baker, M. A. Bloomsmith, K. A. Neu, M. A. Maloney, M. Martinez, J. C. Griffis

MONOAMINE OXIDASE A (MAOA) GENE PROMOTER VARIATION INTERACTS WITH EARLY REARING CONDITION TO INFLUENCE THE BEHAVIORAL RESPONSE TO SOCIAL SEPARATION IN RHESUS MACAQUES (MACACA MULATTA)
M. L. Schwandt, T. K. Newman, S. J. Suomi, J. D. Higley, M. Heilig, C. S. Barr

LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF EARLY REARING ENVIRONMENT ON BEHAVIORAL ACTIVITY IN ADULT MALE RHESUS MONKEYS (MACACA MULATTA)
P. Pierre, S. J. Suomi, A. J. Bennett

EARLY REARING EXPERIENCE AND HYPOTHALAMIC PITUITARY ADRENAL (HPA) ACTIVITY IN INFANT RHESUS MONKEYS (MACACA MULATTA) AFTER A SEPARATION CHALLENGE
A. M. Dettmer, A. M. Ruggiero, M. D. Davenport, M. A. Novak, J. S. Meyer, S. J. Suomi

AGE AND REARING CONDITION INFLUENCE BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES TO SOCIAL INTRUSION IN RHESUS MACAQUES (MACACA MULATTA)
K. Chisholm, M. Schwandt, J. D. Higley, S. J. Suomi, M. Heilig, C. S. Barr

DESENSITIZATION AND HUSBANDRY TRAINING AS A METHOD TO REDUCE FEAR IN SINGLY-HOUSED MALE RHESUS MACAQUES
A. W. Clay, M. A. Bloomsmith, M. J. Marr, T. L. Maple

ALOPECIA AND OVERGROOMING IN LABORATORY MONKEYS VARY BY SPECIES BUT NOT SEX, SUGGESTING A DIFFERENT ETIOLOGY THAN SELF-BITING
C. M. Crockett, K. L. Bentson, R. U. Bellanca

THE EFFECT OF FOUR NURSERY-REARING STRATEGIES ON THE EMERGENCE OF SELF-DIRECTED BEHAVIOR IN LABORATORY-HOUSED RHESUS MACAQUES (MACACA MULATTA)
I. Rommeck, B. McCowan, J. P. Capitanio, N. W. Lerche

TEMPORAL CORRELATES OF STEREOTYPY IN GARNETT'S BUSHBABY
D. B. Hanbury, S. L. Watson, C. R. Broach

ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AS A FACTOR OF COMPLIANCE WITH POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR SINGLY-HOUSED ADULT RHESUS MACAQUES (MACACA MULATTA)
C. Griffis, M. A. Bloomsmith, K. C. Baker, K. A. Neu, M. Martinez, J. C. Griffis

RATES OF EXTERNALLY-DIRECTED AGGRESSION DURING INTRUDER CHALLENGE TESTING DOES NOT DIFFER BETWEEN SELF-BITING AND NON-BITING RHESUS MACAQUES (MACACA MULATTA)
E. B. Davis, K. L. Chisholm, J. D. Higley, C. S. Barr, R. A. Woodward, J. M. Schech, S. J. Suomi

ALOPECIA AND BEHAVIORAL MANAGEMENT
K. C. Baker

A FUNCTIONAL VIEW OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR IN RHESUS MONKEYS (MACACA MULATTA)
M. A. Novak, M. D. Davenport, C. K. Lutz, J. S. Meyer

TO BITE OR NOT TO BITE: INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR (SIB), PLASMA CORTISOL AND TASK PERFORMANCE IN RHESUS MONKEYS (MACACA MULATTA)
B. J. Kelly, M. A. Novak, J. S. Meyer