US National Institutes of Health and Major Donor Lorry Loker informed Over Rehovot's Weizmann Institute's Abusive Brain Experiments on Cats, Monkeys

Peta Media Center reports, that the organization "filed a complaint with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and asked the agency to investigate alleged abuse of cats and monkeys in brain experiments being conducted at the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS). Located in Rehovat, Israel, WIS receives American tax dollars through NIH grants. The complaint follows the release of video footage and other evidence of abuse obtained during a recent undercover investigation of WIS by the Israeli group Let the Animals Live. PETA's complaint is based on the investigator's affidavit and the expert testimony of Dr. Tamar Ron, a primate specialist who has served as a consultant to the Israeli government and the United Nations.

In the experiments, holes are drilled into the skulls of cats and rhesus monkeys for the sole purpose of studying the effects of visual stimulation on brain activity--something that can be documented safely using non-invasive imaging. The cats are killed at the conclusion of the experiment; the monkeys are confined to cages for up to four years and some are killed. Some of the violations reported in the complaint include the following:

· Failure to minimize pain and distress in animals used in experiments
· Failure to provide primates with required environmental enrichment
· Failure to hire qualified and trained staff
· Use of excessive physical restraint on animals
· Depriving monkeys of adequate water

PETA is also asking the NIH to revoke grant money that was used by lead experimenter Amiram Grinvald during the undercover investigation and to bar him from receiving future NIH funding. Today, PETA sent DVDs of the undercover video footage to more than 300 American WIS donors, including BusinessWire founder Lorry Lokey, who recently donated $30 million to WIS.

"It appears that the Weizmann Institute has been using American taxpayer money to abuse cats and monkeys," says PETA Director of Research Kathy Guillermo. "We urge the NIH to investigate immediately and stop paying Weizmann to drill holes into animals' heads."

For more information and to view the video footage, please visit Peta.org.

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