The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an aggressive, self-interested participant in the business of cruel animal testing, according to the Alliance for Animals. The organization hosted a lecture titled \Behind Closed Doors"" Thursday to discuss the issue of animal testing done at UW-Madison, specifically at the Primate Research Center.
""We have to take a stand against animal experimentation at UW-Madison,"" said Rick Marolt, a representative for Alliance for Animals. ""The science is at best questionable, often bad ... and dangerous. We believe it is highly unethical.""
To accompany the lecture, a film was shown of footage from inside animal research labs. The film presented the living environments of primates and dogs in the lab centers and showed animal experiments being performed.
The film is representative of most labs, according to Rick Bogle, a representative for the Alliance for Animals. There was little footage from UW-Madison labs themselves in the film.
""The facilities do not want us to know what is going on,"" Bogle said. According to Bogle, all the information the Alliance for Animals has acquired has been from insiders and ""none of it has been good.""
According to UW-Madison sophomore Caroline Ackley, ""I think [animal testing] is morally inhumane. People don't realize that animals can feel, too. It's not fair to do that to them.""
For UW-Madison senior Paul Wolen, animal testing depends on what kind of animals are being used.
""Basically, more people really care about animals ... related mainly to us such as primates, dogs and cats,"" Wolen said.
All of the animals shown in the film during the lecture were primates and dogs.
""What a monkey would experience is very similar to what humans would experience,"" Moralt said.
""If people's thoughts and feeling matter to me, it is no different with animals,"" Bogle added.
Moralt urged the public to take action. ""Our mission is to get people to know about this and care about it. The picture doesn't get any prettier, it gets a lot uglier,"" Moralt said.
