you'll probably hate me after this rant.
reading the primate freedom page makes me laugh. they talk about how the california national primate research center is the root of all evil - they talk about how it's so inhumane to conduct research on "animals shown, repeatedly, to have minds and emotions very like our own." they make numerous accusations without having ever been inside a facility. well, let me tell you...i work there, and i do see what goes on there. and no, people do not inject soap into monkeys' eyeballs. people don't realize that monkeys are chosen because they are non-human primates...this means that human beings are primates, if you didn't realize. the fact that they are not too distant evolutionary relatives makes the studies that much more valuable. i know...it may seem cruel that some animals must be sacrificed to better our knowledge about diseases and other things pertaining to humans, but i believe it's necessary. most animal research leads to breakthrough drugs. i hope you realize that success in vitro does not lead to success in vivo. bodies - whether human or not - are extremely complicated, and it is impossible to simulate such a machine on a petrie dish or in a computer program. so if you take any medications or drugs, just keep in mind that the drug was probably created with the help of animal research.
i'm not condoning all animal research. there are extreme cases of experimentation that should be challenged (like make-up testing or any other "research" that doesn't provide any useful or beneficial information for society). but don't believe everything you find on the internet. all of the animals in the center are very well taken care of. they eat better than i do. they get heatlamps during the winter. they get to play in the sprinklers and in little pools during the summer. they watch tv. i'm not saying this makes up for all they give to the scientific community - i'm just saying they're not tortured on a daily basis. the law states that one monkey can undergo only 3 major surgeries in its lifetime.
anyway...what makes me want to disregard statements on the primate freedom site is the fact that they criticize studies involving abortion of monkey embryos when they probably support aborting human primate embryos. i'm not trying to bring up the whole pro-choice/pro-life argument (because that is basically a lost cause due to the numerous factors involved)...i'm just saying they seem so hypocritical to me. so, if you read this, i hope you don't hate me. but if you do, then it's ok - i have my opinions and you have yours.