The reality behind brain research on primates
Drill holes in the skull and stab wounds in the brain - monkeys in brain research are subjected to unimaginable suffering. This is revealed by internal documentation provided to our organisation Doctors Against Animal Experiments (DAAE). Official veterinary pathologists did not only find severe, but extremely severe suffering in the monkeys examined from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (MPI) in Tübingen, a fact which was fully known to the responsible authorities. This strongly stresses the urgency of our call to decision-makers to stop authorising and finally prohibit the extremely cruel brain research on monkeys in Germany.
Although the documentation dates back to 2009 and reveals an individual case, it can be concluded that it portrays everyday procedures. The German TV programme 'Frontal' reported on this on 25th October 2022.
New evidence: This is how monkeys suffer in brain research in Germany
The skull of monkey Jara:
Numerous drill holes in Jara's skull with severe osteoporosis of the bone
Authorities do nothing about untenable conditions
All responsible authorities had detailed knowledge of the dissection results at an early stage (between 2009 and 2010). They could - and should have - put a stop to these ordeals, which were not only extremely cruel but also illegal. However, the matter was apparently swept under the carpet.
Among the responsible authorities with knowledge of the abuses were
- the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Food, Rural Areas, and Consumer Protection (MLR), which is responsible for animal welfare
- the Tübingen Veterinary Office
- the Regional Council of Tübingen
The documentation reveals the deepest abysses in the German animal research landscape. In our opinion, the case represents common practice in brain research on non-human primates in Germany and is by no means just an isolated incident. It is a serious offence on the part of the responsible decision-makers that they did not stop such severe animal suffering, which is incompatible with the Animal Welfare Act, as soon as it came to their attention and did not take legal action against the experimenters. Even the Green co-government did not try to put an end to this most severe suffering!
Similar experiments are still being carried out in Bremen, Göttingen, Magdeburg, Marburg, Frankfurt, and in three institutes in Tübingen.
Get involved: demand an end to the agony of non-human primates
Please sign the petition (in German). The text of the petition translates as follows:
Stop brain research on non-human primates!
Drill holes in the skull bones and stab wounds in the brain - monkeys are subjected to unimaginable suffering in brain research. There is zero benefit to sick people of this purely curiosity-driven research. This cruel animal torture is carried out at eight institutes in Germany. With my signature, I demand a ban on monkey brain research!
