Grisly ‘Experiment’ on Screaming Human to Greet UW Students as PETA Takes Aim at Primate Center

For Immediate Release:
September 28, 2026

Contact:
Sydney Rader 202-483-7382

University of Washington (UW) students arriving for their first day of classes on Wednesday will be greeted by a disturbing scene in Red Square, where a PETA supporter dressed as an “experimenter” will restrain a screaming human “test subject,” buzz off her hair, and attach devices to her head, simulating actual experiments on monkeys at the university.

The chilling display will evoke the cruel, invasive neuroscience experiments monkeys are subjected to at the university’s troubled Washington National Primate Research Center —including those conducted by Mark Walton, who distorts days-old baby monkeys’ vision by forcing them to wear goggles or severing an eye tendon, and then later cuts into their skulls to implant recording chambers, metal posts, and other devices.

“UW students deserve to know about the animal suffering their university permits behind laboratory doors, and they deserve the chance to decide whether they want any part of it,” says PETA Chief Science Advisor on Primate Issues Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel. “PETA is bringing the suffering inside UW’s laboratories into broad daylight and calling on the university to end its failed experiments on monkeys, starting with the neuroscience division, and close the primate center.”

When:             Wednesday, September 30, 12 noon

Where:           Red Square, University of Washington, 4603 Spokane Ln., Seattle

Why:               In nature, macaques live in large, tight-knit groups, travel up to two miles each day exploring diverse habitats, and cuddle together in their favorite “sleeping trees” at night. Experimenters at UW, like Walton, rob monkeys of every comfort and family bond while confining them in barren metal cages. The hardware implanted in their skulls and eyes can leave the monkeys suffering from chronic infections, adding more pain and misery to experiments that can last years. The profound stress causes some monkeys to bite and tear at their bodies.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.