Unnecessary Fuss

Last updated
Unnecessary Fuss
UnnecessaryFuss.jpg
Produced by Ingrid Newkirk and Alex Pacheco (PETA)
Release date
  • 1984 (1984)
Running time
26 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Unnecessary Fuss is a film produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), showing footage shot inside the University of Pennsylvania's Head Injury Clinic in Philadelphia. The raw footage was recorded by the laboratory researchers as they inflicted brain damage to baboons using a hydraulic device. The experiments were conducted as part of a research project into head injuries such as is caused in vehicle accidents.

Contents

Sixty hours of audio and video tapes were stolen from the laboratory on May 28, 1984, by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), described in their press release as the "Watergate tapes of the animal rights movement". [1] ALF handed the tapes over to PETA. The footage was edited down to 26 minutes by Alex Pacheco and narrated by Ingrid Newkirk, then distributed to the media and Congress. Charles McCarthy, director of the Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR), wrote that the film had "grossly overstated the deficiencies in the Head Injury Clinic", but that the OPRR had found serious violations of the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. [2] Due to the publicity and the results of several investigations and reports, the lab was closed.

The title of the film comes from a statement made to The Globe and Mail by the head of the clinic, neurosurgeon Thomas Gennarelli, before the raid. He declined to describe his research to the newspaper because, he said, it had "the potential to stir up all sorts of unnecessary fuss." [3]

Contents of the film

The film shows at least one sedated but not anesthetized baboon with his wrists and ankles tied, strapped to table, his head secured with dental stone [lower-alpha 1] inside a helmet. A hydraulic device slams the baboon's head, intended to simulate whiplash. [lower-alpha 2] After one such injury is sustained, the helmet seems stuck and two researchers use a hammer and screwdriver to dislodge the helmet; a researcher is heard to say "Push!", grunts, then "It's a boy!" as the helmet finally comes loose. [4] One sequence shows that a baboon's ear has been damaged as the helmet is removed: "... like I left a little bit of the ear behind." [5] The footage shows researchers performing electrocautery on an inadequately sedated baboon, [6] smoking cigarettes and pipes during surgery, [7] laughing, and playing loud music. A researcher is seen holding a brain-injured baboon up to the camera, while others speak to the animal: "Don't be shy now, sir, nothing to be afraid of". [8] While one baboon was strapped and waiting in the hydraulic device, the photographer pans to a brain-damaged baboon strapped into a high chair in another corner of the room as he says "Cheerleading in the corner, we have B-10. B-10 wishes his counterpart well. As you can see, B-10 is still alive. B-10 is hoping for a good result". [9]

Distribution, reception, result

The film was distributed to major newspapers and new agencies, as well as Congress. [lower-alpha 3] The broad distribution and the piteous images in the film stirred public outrage. [lower-alpha 4] Journalist Deborah Blum wrote "It is difficult to put into words just how ugly that brief movie is." [10]

The university's president halted its use of animals in experiments in response to a preliminary report by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). [11]

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Margaret Heckler, after reading the same preliminary report, and after a four-day sit-in by animal rights activists at NIH, ordered the suspension of the annual $1 million NIH grant supporting the baboon research. [11]

Several investigations and favorable assessments of the research have taken place. The NIH report and a university report were delayed because the activists refused to release the tapes for a year. The university report concurred with the NIH reviewers about the scientific merit of the head injury research, while delineating items where there were violations. [lower-alpha 5] It was noted in the report that since the raid and resulting media exposure, many of the concerns had already been addressed within the university. [12] But in the end, the research lab was shut down.

The biomedical research community expressed its concerns that the government capitulating to activists would put other research at risk of attack by direct action. [lower-alpha 6]

OPRR investigation

An investigation was conducted by 18 veterinarians from the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, commissioned by the Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR). Charles R. McCarthy, director of the OPRR at the time, wrote that "[d]espite the fact that Unnecessary Fuss grossly overstated the deficiencies in the Head Injury Clinic, OPRR found many extraordinarily serious violations of the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals ... Furthermore, OPRR found deficiencies in the procedures for care of animals in many other laboratories operated under the auspices of the university." [2]

The violations included that the depth of anesthetic coma was questionable; that most of the animals were not seen by a veterinarian either before or after surgery; survival surgical techniques were not carried out in the required aseptic manner; that the operating theater was not properly cleaned; and that smoking was allowed in the operating theater despite the presence of oxygen tanks. [2]

When PETA made its 26-minute film available, the OPRR initially refused to investigate because the film had been edited from 60 hours of videotape. For over a year PETA refused to release the original footage. When they eventually handed over the unedited material, the OPRR discovered that the footage of the brain damage being inflicted involved just one baboon out of the 150 who had received the whiplash injuries, but the film had given the impression that the brain-damage scenes involved several animals. [lower-alpha 7]

The OPRR also found deficiencies in other laboratories operated by the university. The university's chief veterinarian was fired, new training programs were initiated, and the university was placed on probation, with quarterly progress reports to OPRR required. [lower-alpha 8]

Notes

  1. Dental stone is a material used in dentistry in the preparation of models and study casts.
  2. "The protocol called for sedated baboons to be injured in a machine that simulated the whiplash motion that often inflicts damage to the neck and spine of humans involved in rear-end auto crashes. The nature of the injuries to the animals were to be studied, and the animals unassisted recovery from injury was to be compared with the recovery of animals that received a variety of treatment modalities. The protocol was controversial because it required the infliction of a severe injury on the baboons. Each animal ultimately would be examined in terminal surgery." [2]
  3. "[It] was distributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, segments of the documentary were aired on NBCs "Nightly News" and the Cable News Network (CNN), and two screenings occurred on Capitol Hill." [1]
  4. "the broadcast of Unnecessary Fuss on NBC and CNN alongside newspaper coverage served to arouse public indignation well beyond the geographic range of the ALF action and the civil disobedience at the University of Pennsylvania and place pressure on elected officials to terminate Gennerelli's NIH funding." [1]
  5. "The committee further agreed that the film "Unnecessary Fuss" gave a distorted view of the conduct of the personnel and the treatment of animals during studies in the Laboratory. While the committee does not condone instances of apparent inappropriate jocularity and offensive comments, it believes they do not reflect the general level of care given the animals or the manner in which the experiments were carried out." [11]
  6. "Meanwhile, many members of the biomedical research community have expressed dismay that the government's decision to suspend support for Penn's head injury research project seemed to come in direct response to pressure from animal rights protesters. In a letter to Secretary Heckler, the association of American Medical Colleges and three other academic organizations wrote that appearing to capitulate 'to the demands of an irresponsible advocacy group ... increases the vulnerability of academic institutions to further break-ins, destruction of property, and loss of research data of incalculable value." [11]
  7. "OPRR discovered that the Unnecessary Fuss presented the case history of only 1 of approximately 150 animals that had received whiplash. By clever editing and inaccurate voice over comments, the viewer was led to believe that the inhumane treatment depicted on the film was repeated over and over and over again. In actual fact, one baboon was badly treated, and the film showed that single mistreatment over and over again while the commentator narrated that the mistreatment was repeated on a long series of different animals. In all, OPRR identified about 25 errors in the description of what was taking place. Typical was the statement accompanying film showing an accidental water spill that acid had been carelessly poured on a baboon." [2]
  8. "The university was put on probation by OPRR. The Head Injury Clinic was closed. The chief veterinarian was fired, the administration of animal facilities was consolidated, new training programs for investigators and staff were initiated, and quarterly progress reports to OPRR were required." [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals</span> American animal rights organization

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA says that its entities have more than 9 million members globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal testing</span> Use of animals in experiments

Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study. This approach can be contrasted with field studies in which animals are observed in their natural environments or habitats. Experimental research with animals is usually conducted in universities, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, defense establishments, and commercial facilities that provide animal-testing services to the industry. The focus of animal testing varies on a continuum from pure research, focusing on developing fundamental knowledge of an organism, to applied research, which may focus on answering some questions of great practical importance, such as finding a cure for a disease. Examples of applied research include testing disease treatments, breeding, defense research, and toxicology, including cosmetics testing. In education, animal testing is sometimes a component of biology or psychology courses. The practice is regulated to varying degrees in different countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veterinarian</span> Health professional who treats non-human animals

A veterinarian (vet) is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal reproduction, health management, conservation, husbandry and breeding and preventive medicine like nutrition, vaccination and parasitic control as well as biosecurity and zoonotic disease surveillance and prevention.

Animal euthanasia is the act of killing an animal humanely, most commonly with injectable drugs. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable conditions or diseases, lack of resources to continue supporting the animal, or laboratory test procedures. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress. Euthanasia is distinct from animal slaughter and pest control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Pacheco (activist)</span> American animal rights activist

Alexander Fernando Pacheco is an American animal rights activist. He is the founder of 600 Million Dogs, co-founder and former chairman of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and a member of the advisory board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labcorp Drug Development</span> Contract research organization

Labcorp Drug Development is a contract research organization headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina, providing nonclinical, preclinical, clinical and commercialization services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Formerly called Covance, the company is part of Labcorp, which employs more than 70,000 people worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon National Primate Research Center</span>

The Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) is one of seven federally funded National Primate Research Centers in the United States and has been affiliated with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) since 1998. The center is located on 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land in Hillsboro, Oregon. Originally known as the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center (ORPRC), it was the first of the original seven primate centers established by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The research center is administered and funded by the National Center for Research Resources, receiving $11 million in federal grants annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California, Riverside 1985 laboratory raid</span> 1985 animal cruelty incident

In 1985, a raid took place at a laboratory belonging to the University of California, Riverside (UCR) that resulted in the removal of a monkey by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). This monkey, called Britches, was a stump-tailed macaque who was born into a breeding colony at UCR. He was removed from his mother at birth, had his eyelids sewn shut, and had an electronic sonar device attached to his head—a Trisensor Aid, an experimental version of a blind travel aid, the Sonicguide—as part of a three-year sensory-deprivation study involving 24 infant monkeys. The experiments were designed to study the behavioral and neural development of monkeys reared with a sensory substitution device.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee</span>

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) are centrally important in applying laws about animal research in the United States. Similar systems operate in other countries, but generally under different titles; for example, in Canada a typical title would be the University Animal Care Committee (UACC), while in the United Kingdom it would be the Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver Spring monkeys</span> Macaques used in neuroplasticity research; subjects of an animal-cruelty court case

The Silver Spring monkeys were 17 wild-born macaque monkeys from the Philippines who were kept in the Institute for Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland. From 1981 until 1991, they became what one writer called the most famous lab animals in history, as a result of a battle between animal researchers, animal advocates, politicians, and the courts over whether to use them in research or release them to a sanctuary. Within the scientific community, the monkeys became known for their use in experiments into neuroplasticity—the ability of the adult primate brain to reorganize itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Taub</span> American neuroscientist, born 1931

Edward Taub is a behavioral neuroscientist on the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is best known for his involvement in the Silver Spring monkeys case, for making discoveries in the area of neuroplasticity, and developing constraint-induced movement therapy; a family of techniques which helps the rehabilitation of people who have developed learned non-use as a result of suffering neurological injuries from a stroke or other cause.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal testing on non-human primates</span> Experimentation using other primate animals

Experiments involving non-human primates (NHPs) include toxicity testing for medical and non-medical substances; studies of infectious disease, such as HIV and hepatitis; neurological studies; behavior and cognition; reproduction; genetics; and xenotransplantation. Around 65,000 NHPs are used every year in the United States, and around 7,000 across the European Union. Most are purpose-bred, while some are caught in the wild.

This timeline of Animal Liberation Front (ALF) actions describes the history, consequences and theory of direct action on behalf of animals by animal liberation activists using, or associated with the ALF.

Primate experiments at Columbia University came to public attention in October 2003, when CNN reported that a university veterinarian had approached its Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee about experiments being carried out there on baboons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal Liberation Front</span> Animal rights direct action organization

The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is an international, leaderless, decentralized political and social resistance movement that advocates and engages in what it calls non-violent direct action in protest against incidents of animal cruelty. It originated in Britain in the 1970s from the Bands of Mercy. Participants state it is a modern-day Underground Railroad, removing animals from laboratories and farms, destroying facilities, arranging safe houses, veterinary care and operating sanctuaries where the animals subsequently live. Critics have labelled them as eco-terrorists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pain in animals</span> Overview about pain in animals

Pain negatively affects the health and welfare of animals. "Pain" is defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage." Only the animal experiencing the pain can know the pain's quality and intensity, and the degree of suffering. It is harder, if even possible, for an observer to know whether an emotional experience has occurred, especially if the sufferer cannot communicate. Therefore, this concept is often excluded in definitions of pain in animals, such as that provided by Zimmerman: "an aversive sensory experience caused by actual or potential injury that elicits protective motor and vegetative reactions, results in learned avoidance and may modify species-specific behaviour, including social behaviour." Nonhuman animals cannot report their feelings to language-using humans in the same manner as human communication, but observation of their behaviour provides a reasonable indication as to the extent of their pain. Just as with doctors and medics who sometimes share no common language with their patients, the indicators of pain can still be understood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shock detector</span> Indicator of physical shock or impact

A shock detector, shock indicator, or impact monitor is a device which indicates whether a physical shock or impact has occurred. These usually have a binary output (go/no-go) and are sometimes called shock overload devices. Shock detectors can be used on shipments of fragile valuable items to indicate whether a potentially damaging drop or impact may have occurred. They are also used in sports helmets to help estimate if a dangerous impact may have occurred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Envigo</span> Contract research organization and laboratory animal sourcer

Envigo (en-VEE-go) is a privately held contract research organization and laboratory animal sourcer that provides live animals and related products and services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, government, academia and other life science organizations engaged in animal testing. The company breeds and sells research animals – which are referred to in the industry as "research models"– including rodents, rabbits, beagles and non-human primates. Envigo is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and employs more than 1,200 people at 30+ locations across North America, Europe and the Middle East.

The Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) is a federally-funded biomedical research facility located on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington. The WaNPRC is one of seven National Primate Research Centers established by the National Institutes of Health in the 1960s The Washington primate center opened in 1961 and as of 2020, housed over 900 primates. The center is affiliated with the University of Washington Schools of Medicine, Public Health, affiliated research centers and the University of Washington Medical Center. It employs over 150 scientists and staff.

The Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC) is a federally funded biomedical research facility affiliated with the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. The SNPRC became the seventh National Primate Research Center in 1999.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lowe, Brian (2008). "Animal Rights Struggles to Dominate the Public Moral Imagination through Sociological Warfare". p. 10. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.596.6009 .
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McCarthy, Charles R. "OEC - Reflections on the Organizational Locus of the Office for Protection from Research Risks (Research Involving Human Participants V2)". onlineethics.org. National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  3. Palango, Paul (March 6, 1983). The Globe and Mail .{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. Unnecessary Fuss, 16:40.
  5. Unnecessary Fuss, 23:00.
  6. Unnecessary Fuss, 3:28.
  7. Unnecessary Fuss, 19:40.
  8. Unnecessary Fuss, 24:00.
  9. Unnecessary Fuss, 14:00.
  10. Blum, Deborah (1995). Monkey Wars. Oxford University Press. p. 118. ISBN   0-19-510109-X..
  11. 1 2 3 4 Meyers, Mary Ann (September 3, 1985). "An Update on the Head Injury Laboratory" (PDF) (PDF). University of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the University. pp. 1–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 19, 2020.
  12. "Report of The Committee to Review The Head Injury Clinical Research Laboratory Of the School of Medicine" (PDF) (PDF). University of Pennsylvania, Committee to Review The Head Injury Clinical Research Laboratory of the School of Medicine. August 2, 1985. pp. 3–8. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 19, 2020.