[Fwd: http://deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jul252006/index2047382006724.asp]

[Guest guest]

FYI !

Nilesh

 

Folks,

A copy of my letter to the Editor letters please

write one ... you can use portions of this or make your own! The

newspaper will appreciate even the smallest note on the issue and do

more such research journalism.

Thanks,

Sujatha

-------------------------------

Dear Sir,

Your article " Monkey business: IISc faces the music " dated Tuesday,

July 25, 2006 regarding the release of 20 Bonnet Macaque used in

research in the Sattanur forest reserve is an expose of IISc's 40-year

institutional abuse of animals for grants.

 

I have seen the facility in '93 and was shocked at the poor condition

of the animals in stainless steel incubator/ refrigerated cells,

stuffed 3 - 4 without room to move or warmth, terrified of the

workers.

 

DIYA had protested IISc's Primate Research in February when the

researchers refused to allow us to see the condition of the monkeys,

despite having been invited by the Director, Dr. Balaram.

 

We consider the primates 40 year incarceration a shame on the city of

Bangalore. IISc's PRL misuses our tax money to fund cloning (IISc was

given 1 billion of our taxes in 2005 by the President); the monkeys

are breed for sale to other researchers and the old animals are used

to test products of private commercial MNCs like P & G. P & G is not

allowed to do toxic testing on primates anywhere else in the world.

IISc benefits from India's lack of ethical protocol guidelines for

animal research.

 

If monkeys were used to research contagious diseases like AIDS,

tuberculosis or hepatitis, it's shameful that IISc pinches pennies in

rehabilitating them through NGOs! Do they not care for the safety of

both man and animal around Bangalore? We must ask why IISc must bear

the cost of rehabilitation within the 500 acres of our city space that

the institution occupies, which houses merely a few hundred students

and faculty? That's where IISc's shame must be displayed in full!

 

We demand that the unethical Primate Research Laboratory be shut down

immediately. The Institute must pay to restore the released monkeys to

safety. The government must restore our faith that the Indian

Institute's Sci(l)ence is not a shameful grant game of science. (IISc

on pg 23 in the booklet http://www.navs.org.uk/campaigns/67/0/412/ )

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sujatha Karanth,

DIYA, Bangalore

32 Sankey Rd Cross

Abshot Layout

Bangalore - 560052

Ph: 98869 92392