Prompted by a complaint from PETA, federal investigators opened a formal inquiry at the University of Washington, Seattle (UW). New information from the ensuing investigations has confirmed widespread violations of animal protection regulations. The animal suffering involved in these cruel experiments is shocking. Experimenters cut off the tops of monkeys' skulls, insert electrodes into their brains, and implant wire coils in their eyes. The monkeys are then restrained in experimentation chairs, with their heads bolted in place so that they can't move while experimenters track their eye movements. They are kept hungry or thirsty much of the time so that they'll comply during tests to get a sip of water or a bite of food.

Patrick was one of the monkeys used in these experiments at the UW. During his years of imprisonment at the university, Patrick battled illness and repeated infections caused by the implants. Because Patrick would not always perform during the experiments, his food was tightly restricted. There were times when he was so thin that his spine and his hips jutted out under his skin. Patrick also suffered from serious psychological conditions and even self-mutilated. Despite all of this, the operations and tests continued. Experimenters violated federal animal protection regulations by performing unauthorized surgeries on Patrick and other monkeys—cutting into the monkeys' heads and eyes without approval from the university's animal oversight committee.

The federal government's investigation continues—see Seattle's KOMO TV's investigative report on the case. PETA is asking the National Eye Institute (NEI) to stop funding these cruel eye coil experiments at the UW and everywhere. We need your help.

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/u...c=weekly_enews