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What You Can Do The University of Wisconsin, Madison Frankly, the unwillingness of university officials to entertain any public discussion about the use of monkeys in the university labs, severely limits any opportunity for the sort of reasoned discussion that should help inform and guide public-policy decision making in a democratic society. To overcome this wall of resistance and decidedly anti-public posture, many people need to speak out and demand that the UW discuss this matter in venue that encourages public participation. How can we do this? 1. We have to educate ourselves. On this website, there is a wealth of information and many links to primary sources of information. Read everything. This will allow you to speak and write knowledgeably. 2. Once you have learned what is really going on in the labs, tell others what you have learned and ask them to visit this website. 3. Help create a buzz in Madison about primate experimentation. Do this by logging on and posting your opinion to the local message boards like the Madison.com forums, and The Isthmus forums. Write letters to the editors of all the local papers. Call in to the talk radio shows. Always tell people to visit Madison's Hidden Monkeys, this website. 4. Make a pledge to begin and to sustain a concerted letter writing campaign to your county representative, state assembly representative, your congressional representative, and our senators. 5. Make a pledge to begin and to sustain a concerted letter writing campaign to university officials: Dr. Paul M. Sondel Kevin P. Reilly, President Rita Sears, Special Assistant to the President Chancellor John D. Wiley (Says UW will never debate.) 6. Join the Alliance for Animals' Primate Freedom Project. Get involved. Share your talents and ideas. Call 575-4306 for more information. And last, but maybe most importantly, think for yourself. Be creative. Don't be afraid to try something innovative, edgy, or off-the-wall. The simple fact of the matter is that people have been working on this issue for about a century and a half. No one has found the key. Read, learn, think. What have people done in the past? Why hasn't it worked? What can we do differently? Maybe you will be the one who comes up with the solution. And remember, you are in very good company if you are disturbed by what is going on in the labs. The point is, do rhesus monkeys have emotions? Do they have feelings? Do they have pain? Do they have sophisticated social structures? All the answers are yes. Covance Unlike the opportunities that are available such as they are to combat the UW's use of monkeys, Covance is another sort of problem altogether. Nevertheless, as a private company, Covance is profit driven and dependent. We recommend the following actions: 1. Call attention to the documented atrocities every chance you get. 2. If you know some participating in, or thinking of participating in a Covance study, ask them to boycott the company, or else, to think of ways that they might be able to use their participation in a Covance study to call other participants' attention to the thousands of suffering animals there, or else think of a way to drop a spanner into the works. 3. Write to city and county officials and ask them to look at the documentation as well. 4. If, after doing this, you hear nothing in response, or else you get some meaningless reply, be sure to call attention to these officials' lack of concern and support for cruelty whenever the opportunity should arise. If enough people speak out and agitate, change is possible. Never give up.
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