Animal Writings

[C]himpanzees make poor models for the study of human disease. Take HIV-AIDS research. Despite injecting chimpanzees with several strains of the retrovirus HIV, only two developed symptoms similar to -- but not the same as -- full-blown AIDS in humans. Experimenters have gone so far as to inject human brain tissue infected with HIV directly into chimpanzee brains -- but to no avail. The chimpanzees, for all their pain and suffering, did little to advance medical science in this realm.

Similarly, though chimpanzees may be infected with the virus causing hepatitis B in humans, they don't get sick; and even though they do get sick when exposed to hepatitis C, the illness is not the same as ours. Chimpanzee research did play a role in the development of hepatitis B vaccines, and, for years, the Food and Drug Administration required every batch of vaccine to be tested on chimpanzees. But since then other, more precise methods have been developed."

...

"In the wild, they travel in search of food, and their diet is a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, insects, and, sometimes, meat. At night, they make leafy sleeping platforms, or nests, high above the ground. Above all, they constantly make decisions. With whom to associate? Should they join a group patrolling the boundary of a territory, a hunting party, or travel peacefully with a group of females? The males have various reproductive strategies that include persuading females to accompany them on lengthy consortships. Much of chimpanzees' nonverbal communication is similar to ours. When greeting after an absence, they may kiss, embrace, or pat each other on the back. In aggressive incidents, they may swagger, scowl, scream, punch, slap, or kick. There are strong, affectionate bonds between individuals, particularly mothers and offspring, and maternal siblings, that may persist throughout life."

...

"Can it be morally acceptable to conduct invasive research on beings so like us? To imprison them in 5-foot-square, sterile cages, their only stimulation, other than the delivery of food and the cleaning of their cages, lab personnel performing protocols on them?"

"It's time we used our superior intellect to find alternatives to invasive medical experiments on all sapient, sentient beings."