Suomi Reading

Suomi Reading (YouTube)

Suomi was Harry Harlow's star pupil. His doctoral thesis recounts his use of the "vertical chamber" to induce chronic depression.

Primate Research at UW - For The Record 2008

Primate Research at UW - For The Record 2008 (YouTube)

ALS-Diagnosed Dr. Helene Dwyer Speaks Against Animal Experimentation

ALS-Diagnosed Dr. Helene Dwyer Speaks Against Animal Experimentation (YouTube)

UW Caught Lying - Vilas Zoo Monkey Scandal

UW Caught Lying - Vilas Zoo Monkey Scandal (YouTube)

2010 Forum on Ethics of Animal Research

2010 Forum on Ethics of Animal Research (YouTube)

The Vilas Zoo Monkey Scandal

Remembering the Vilas Zoo Monkey Scandal (YouTube)

Veterinarians: An Ironic Impediment to Progress for Animals

Many new medical doctors swear an oath to treat their patients with care and respect. New veterinarians swear to use their knowledge and skills "for the benefit of society."

I've known a number of veterinarians who have cared deeply for animals and have spoken out on their behalf. Such veterinarians seem to be quite rare.

Thinking of veterinarians as animals' doctors likely contributes to the public's mistaken belief that they are M.D.s for animals and that they also treat their patients with care and respect. And certainly, some do.

But in many, maybe all organizations involved with using or selling animals, veterinarians are involved in and defend whatever it is that their organization, employer, or industy does to animals.

Some examples:

Today, there are approximately 400 veal farms in the U.S., and many are Amish or Mennonite families. Each farm family raises about 400 head per year. Out of all the formula-fed calves marketed each year, 95 percent come from Veal Quality Assurance (VQA)-certified farms. All VQA certifications are verified by a veterinarian.

The care that’s given is really unprecedented, even for a zoo. -- Dr. Dennis Schmitt, head veterinarian, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation

It was pictures like this one from Barnum and Bailey's elephant training farm that even the vets couldn't whitewash.

Laboratory animal veterinarians serve as a unique bridge between the humane use of laboratory animals and the advancement of scientific and medical knowledge.

But every company and institution experimenting on animals covered by the Animal Welfare Act is required to have a committee -- an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, an IACUC (sometimes called an ACUC) -- that is supposed to make sure that the regulations of the Animal Welfare Act are being followed, and one of the committee's members must be a veterinarian. At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a senior veterinarian served on the committee that oversees the use of monkeys. That vet, "Buddy" Capuano argued that the committee did not have the right or power to stop or force certain modifications to a project involving maternal deprivation.

What this means for the animals is that whenever concern over the care and use of animals finds its way into consideration by the public, there are always veterinarians who come forward and claim that the animals are well cared for, even respected and loved. And, because they are "animal doctors" those listening to their poppycock are hoodwinked.

Veterinarians are not medical doctors. They take no oath to protect and try to do what is best for their "patients". In cases involving the use of animals or their sale, there are no patients involved; there are only victims.