Caged 'Monkeys' Blast NASA Over Planned Radiation Experiments

PETA Calls On Space Agency to Ground Cruel and Wasteful Tests and Use 21st Century Research Methods Instead

For Immediate Release:
February 5, 2010

Contact:
Holly Beal 757-622-7382

Titusville, Fla. -- Wearing monkey masks while locked inside small cages and holding signs that read, "No Tax $ for Animal Abuse" and "Stop Radiation Tests on Monkeys," PETA members will lead a protest at Space View Park over the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) plan to subject up to 30 squirrel monkeys to a massive dose of gamma radiation. After exposing the monkeys to the radiation, NASA plans to subject the animals to years of additional laboratory experiments in order to observe how the radiation devastates their brains and bodies. Monkeys used in earlier radiation experiments conducted by the government have suffered from brain tumors, blindness, cognitive decline, and other debilitating conditions.

When:   Sunday, February 7, 4 a.m.

Where:  Space View Park, intersection of Indian River Avenue and Broad Street, Titusville

"NASA prides itself on looking to the future, but when it comes to crude and cruel animal experiments, the agency is stuck in the Dark Ages," says PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo. "President Obama just said 'No' to another moon visit, and human deep-space exploration is still light years away. NASA should be ashamed of squandering nearly $2 million of the public's money on a wasteful project that harms animals and won't protect human astronauts." 

Because of the biological differences between species and the fact that astronauts are exposed to low levels of radiation over extended periods of time--as opposed to the single large dose that the monkeys will be given in a matter of minutes--the results of radiation experiments on monkeys cannot be reliably applied to humans. In a letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr., PETA pointed out that NASA could study humans who have been to space and also could rely on modern research methods, including the use of human tissue cultures and simulators that would yield results relevant to humans--something that animal experiments cannot do.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.