Ask University of Connecticut to Permanently Ban Primate Experiments on Campus!

When University of Connecticut student Justin Goodman learned that David Waitzman, a vivisector on his campus, was drilling holes into the skulls of monkeys, implanting electrodes into their brains, and attaching tiny coils directly onto their eyes, he decided to take action. Justin collected thousands of petition signatures, met with the university president, organized demonstrations and seminars, pored through animal care records, and submitted complaints to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

Investigations of Waitzman's labs by the USDA uncovered horrendous conditions and abysmal treatment of monkeys. Waitzman was cited by the USDA for more than 20 violations of animal welfare laws, received a letter of reprimand from the UConn Health Center, and was told that he would not be allowed to publish the data obtained from some of his experiments. As a result, Waitzman has been forced to terminate his experiments, and UCHC has been fined more than $5,500 for violations that occurred in Waitzman's laboratory. Among the seven citations mentioned in the settlement, UCHC was fined for Waitzman's failure to identify injections of two unapproved substances into a monkey's brain (which left the monkey paralyzed); the continued employment of unqualified personnel; and causing stress, trauma, and unnecessary discomfort to a monkey who was choked so hard that his eyes bled.

Justin is now calling on the university to implement a permanent ban on primate experimentation.

We need your help! Please use the form below to write to University of Connecticut President Michael Hogan urging him to enact a permanent ban on the use of primates in the university's laboratories.

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