No Justice for the Monkey Boiled Alive
Published October 30, 2008 @ 04:35PM PT
She was a cynomolgus monkey, also known as a crab-eating macaque or a long-tailed macaque. Whatever name you prefer, her horrifying, gruesome death followed a brief life that itself was surely lonely, frightening, and painful. There were no trees, no gusts of wind, no natural smells, sounds, and sights, no family or companionship, no joy or wonder in her daily existence. Instead there was a tiny, barren space, with walls, ceiling, and floor made of cold metal wires. Instead there was terror. Instead there were likely injections and restraints and intentionally inflicted pain and isolation. And there was to be far more of that, as humans tested drugs on her--and in a lab with a history of abuse and cruelty at that.
But then even before they were done with her, she was killed, and in the worst way. She died horrifically in the same cage in which she lived so sadly. She gripped the cage bars as 180 degree water and caustic, burning chemicals rained down forcefully all over her trapped body, boiling her alive, melding the skin of her tortured body to the cage, permanently fusing her fingers to the metal bars that she gripped in terror and excruciating pain like we will never know. There is no doubt that she screamed. God, how she must have screamed. They had to peel her dead body from the cage.
Whether intentionally or carelessly (and how it could have been accidental--how someone could have failed to notice a monkey inside the cage--is beyond comprehension), the SNBL lab in Everest, Washington, killed her. And they're going to get away with it. Like the ranchers who can watch, unmoved, as their cattle starve to death, wasting away in unbearable pain, the people responsible for this innocent monkey's hellish death in a cage washer will go unprosecuted not because there are not at least some laws protecting nonhuman animals, but because humans don't care enough to demand that their fellow humans be held accountable for these deaths. The ranchers are not charged or are given slaps on the wrist because law enforcement and the prosecutor's offices don't have to worry about public outcry. They're just cows, after all. And the people and lab who sent that monkey to her sickening death will not have to answer charges in court because prosecutors refuse to bring a case and because a judge doesn't believe that a jury would find the people guilty. (And the federal government doesn't even see a crime here; that's how strong our federal animal welfare laws are.)
To those of you out there who don't understand why animal rights activists are sometimes so angry, who think we have nothing to be angry about, who don't understand how we can cry over animals we've never met, who prefer to remain blissfully ignorant and insist that the way we use animals is fine and that animals don't suffer at our hands because, after all, we have laws to prevent and punish animal abuse, or who condemn the open or covert rescue of animals from labs, to all of you--please pay attention. Incidents such as this, in which animals are not just abused but tortured--incidents that are not nearly as rare as you think--these are among our reasons for being angry. And they are the reasons that you ought to be mad as hell too.
Go read the article that first appeared early this year, when a Washington news station first broke this story. Among everything else you read will be the following, which tells a not-unusual story about what happens when employees who witness cruelty, whether in a lab or a slaughterhouse, dare to speak up: they get fired, and the abuse continues.
Joanie McCully is a former Animal Care Supervisor for the SNBL. . . .
"I was sick to my stomach. It broke my heart because that is so avoidable and unnecessary, and I couldn't believe it. I wanted to vomit right there." . . .
McCully is upset by what she calls a "long-standing disregard" for animal care at the Everett facility. As an example, she points to an e-mail from a veterinarian working at SNBL entitled "uh oh".
McCully asked the vet, "I heard about the monkey, pretty bad."
The reply: "Oh yes- what a mess! Knew it was (g)oing to happen at some time - many close calls. Now all the paperwork – USDA and AAALAC. What FUN!"
McCully was floored by the reaction.
"When I inquired about it, the reply I got back was 'Oh, dear.' Think of the paperwork. That just upset me to my soul because no animal in there should die because of somebody’s mistake or negligence or lack of compassion. "
McCully says she was recently fired after telling federal inspectors that some SNBL employees were abusing primates and failing to follow other US Department of Agriculture guidelines. [emphasis mine]
Her list of complaints include: employees carelessly spraying monkeys with acid and intentionally slamming primates on the floor. Why would they do that?
“Drop that cage from a standing position. Drop it. Monkeys would land on their heads in that cage and they'd (employees would) spin it around to confuse the monkey and get it all out of sorts. Then, (they’d) do the procedure. That way the monkey is cooperative.”
Links
Original story, Jan. 31
Update, Feb. 4
No Federal Violations for Boiled Monkey Death, May 20
Everett Judge Refuses to Allow Prosecution in Scalded Monkey Case, Oct. 29
Thanks to the Animal Law Blog for the alert.
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Comments (43)
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Author
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Stephanie is an independent animal rights advocate, a vegan, a tree-hugging environmentalist, and a freelance editor and writer. She lives in St. Louis with an aging corgi-lab and an adolescent rescued pit bull.
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This is horrible. Why aren't more of us ashamed of ourselves?
Posted by Lisa R on 10/31/2008 @ 06:27PM PT
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"the people responsible for this innocent monkey's hellish death in a cage washer will go unprosecuted not because there are not at least some laws protecting nonhuman animals, but because humans don't care enough to demand that their fellow humans be held accountable for these deaths."
This is probably the most articulate explanation I've ever heard. THANK YOU Stephanie.
Now as for this monkey... I know this will give me nightmares now. And perhaps it's because I'm a mom, but when I see pictures of the cowering monkeys in cages, it rips my heart. Especially the photo at the start of this article... Call me a bleeding heart liberal, but I just want to hold that monkey in my arms...
Posted by Lisa Smolen on 11/11/2008 @ 08:11AM PT
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This is incredibly sadistic..at first I expected it to occur in a third world country but when I read it was the USA I was even more shocked & sickened by the actions of these so called humans.
It never ceases to cause me immense shame the cruelty inflicted to animals and the manner in which our 'justice' systems fail them.
I urge all my fellow animal lovers to please not give up in our quest to right these wrongs.We have to keep fighting,to be their voices.
Posted by Robyn Harvey on 11/30/2008 @ 10:51PM PT
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We need a more basic system of justice.One that dishes out the same form of punishment that one is found guilty of.
Thats 'why they keep shoving "dancing with the stars" and other garbage tv down our throats so we stay passive and distracted.
It's time for a revolutionary war part2.
Posted by m j on 12/03/2008 @ 02:21PM PT
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Just when you thought you couldn't hear anything worse, an article like this comes along. It's horrific!! Thank you Stephanie for hopefully making more people aware of what goes on behind closed doors.
Posted by Robin Stein-Coriv... on 12/19/2008 @ 05:04PM PT
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This is sickening. Where is the SPCA or Humane Society?
Posted by Andres Vasquez on 12/24/2008 @ 04:56AM PT
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I am absolutely horrified. Why can't all people feel the way I feel when they hear or actually witness something like that with their own two eyes. My heart is literally aching.
Posted by Amy Hilgert on 01/06/2009 @ 06:51AM PT
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Maybe what those who abuse animals should experience the same abuse themselves-- but two wrongs don't make a right. I would have loved that monkey. I used to work in an animal lab and I had to quit because I got so emotionally involved with the animals, I was "unprofessional". "Professional" is kind of like the story Stephanie showed us....though I don't see that as professional, merely brutal. Monkeys, pigs, cows, elephants, cats, dogs...so many animals have way more emotion than we know or give them credit for. We have become a very narcissistic society and do not seem to know anymore the difference between wrong and right. No matter what the animal- This is wrong.Period.
Posted by HD Stadler on 01/06/2009 @ 09:02AM PT
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Sick sick sick. And yet another thing to cry about at night.... I find myself getting so angry and more and more active (my husband thinks I'm crazy). Thank you for reminding me that I'm not the only one angry, crying...
I hate hearing these stories that are, indeed, too common. But, I feel it's important to hear them, at the very least, to honour the monkey and what she went through -- so that, in the end, she didn't die in vain, unloved. Even though it's in retrospect, we are with her through the suffering and send her love. She's surely better off now.
Posted by Haley O on 01/20/2009 @ 01:44PM PT
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I hear you Haley. My friends think I am nuts also. I am fully active in many things now for animal protect. I find it horrific some of the things that I have viewed. It makes ANGRY and I cry also... x
Posted by CARLA LESH on 05/27/2009 @ 11:25AM PT
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This also happened at the U of Wisconsin Primate Lab in Madisson WI. They said it was an accident.
Posted by Green Consciousness on 02/01/2009 @ 01:40AM PT
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For a while, I thought that there could not be anything worse but having read this, I'm so disgusted by what man has made of animals. It's heart rending to hear these stories which are becoming way too ordinary. It repulses me & makes me so godamn furious at my helplessness to aid those innocent animals. For God sake, the involved authorities must take more severe actions!!!!!! Whatever are they waiting for???
Posted by Masha Lpa on 02/16/2009 @ 12:59AM PT
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The people responsible for this are not human....they can't be....they are soul-less and without compassion....THAT is a sad existence
Posted by georgette vanslyke on 02/18/2009 @ 09:27PM PT
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OMG, this is appalling! This MUST be penalized!
Posted by A V on 03/05/2009 @ 08:54AM PT
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I live in Winnipeg, Canada, where a lot of research takes place; here too, we are not exempt from indifference or sadists. Animal testing is not only hell on these completely innocent beings, but a fraudulent waste that rips off taxpayers and those who are waiting for cures.
Posted by Catherine King on 03/05/2009 @ 09:46AM PT
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This is so awful....and so many more cases like this go unreported.
It may be that these anti-cruelty laws will never be enforced as judges and courts know that a serious conviction and bad publicity would result in people finally connecting the dots between a a monkey being boiled alive and chickens, pigs and the other innocent beings being boiled alive on a daily basis.
They (corporations and judges they pay off) do not want those kinds of visual-ethical connections implanted in the public's mind...because that would suddenly hurt the bottom line - PROFITS
I hope so much that people's love, empathy and compassion is expanded upon reading articles like these so that horrifying deaths is not in vain.
I also find it pretty sad that there are only 14 comments on this article.
Indifference is the worst kind of response...
Really agree with - and appreciate- what Haley O said, thank-you for your heart felt words.
Posted by lisa H on 03/05/2009 @ 11:12PM PT
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THIS IS THE MOST DISGUSTING STORY I HAVE EVER READ!!!! AND NO ONE IS GOING TO BE PROSECUTED FOR THIS? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE AUTHORITIES IN THAT AREA? SOMEONE SHOULD PAY FOR THIS ATROCITY!!!!!!! WHY IS THIS LAB ALLOWED TO STAY OPEN? I TOO WANT TO KNOW WHERE IS THE A.S.P.C.A. OR THE HUMANE SOCIETY? SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE TO ENSURE THAT THIS "LAB" IS NO LONGER ALLOWED TO PRACTICE THEIR "SACRIFICES.
Posted by Darla Marshall on 04/15/2009 @ 01:11PM PT
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HOrrendous!!!
Posted by Mandi Traut on 05/13/2009 @ 05:44PM PT
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Please remember this story before you give to any medical non-profit, no matter how "angelic" their stated purpose. Ask about their animal testing and experimentation policy. And know that in some of our "finest" medical centers, such as Nashville's Vanderbilt Medical Center and Research, this is something that would not have caused some of the researchers I met to even skip b'fast.
And as far as anger, it sometimes shocks me how close my anger is to my very surface over how animals are treated and tortured. I remember one researcher complaining over something so simple as the temp in the room where he kept his "research tools" (he did not see them as living beings). He griped to me that their lab was the perfect temp while his office was always either too hot or too cold. I remarked to him that at least he could go home at night. Angry? Doesn't even begin to describe my feelings on how we treat these living, breathing, wonderful creatures.
Posted by The Southern Alliance for Animal Welfare Pet Education & Sterilization Services on 05/22/2009 @ 10:38PM PT
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There are no words to describe how sickening this is. If these people are like this,how are they at home. Very scary. They say what comes around goes around. I believe one day all these terribly sick sick whatever name people like this carry will have their day. What have all these beautifull innocent animals done to deserve this. They are a gift for us to enjoy. I hope they pay for what they are doing SOON.
Posted by Darlene Therrien on 05/23/2009 @ 09:30AM PT
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Where is the petition for all animal lovers to send to the federal government changing the laws to include all forms of animal life be put under protection from the cruel ones of the human race? It seems drastic but I fear if nothing is done it will get worse, if that is possible. It won't stop the cruelty but at least these people would have consequences to face and maybe be caught and stopped before they start hurting or murdering humans too.
The new prisons they will have to build!
Posted by Tierney Grinavic on 05/23/2009 @ 10:15AM PT
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This is beyond my comprehension ! There is never a reason to treat another life form this way !
Posted by Pamylle Greinke on 05/23/2009 @ 12:58PM PT
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When people see other people being cruel to animals, somehow they feel ashamed to speak up - it's the wierdest thing i've seen. They are afraid to be thought of as stupid for speaking up for an animal.
It sickens and enrages me how humans can be so callous and cruel. What kind of democracies do we have when so many animal lovers cry out for justice - how can our voices be ignored. Or is it a democracy only for the cruel bastards who always seem to get away with the most hideous crimes?
Posted by Cherida Hivale on 05/23/2009 @ 10:49PM PT
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I hope the person that was responsible for this monkey's cruel death meets the same fate,Karma works in mysterious ways.
Posted by David Tsosie on 05/23/2009 @ 11:56PM PT
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HUMANS WILL GET THEIR'S.... KEEP THIS UP AND WHAT GOES AROUND WILL COME BACK AT ALLTHESE SADISTIC A HOLES.
Posted by CARLA LESH on 05/27/2009 @ 11:23AM PT
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They are responsible for these animals, this never should of happened.
If all the org. could/would send their petitions in on the same day, we would get more results. Numbers add up, I guess what I am saying is we all need to work together. Numbers add up.
Posted by Wanda Perry on 05/31/2009 @ 12:49PM PT
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The callousness is what sickens me most. One day these same torturers, I hope they come back in their next lives as the animals they torture, and live 1000 deaths as this monkey, as these dogs, as these pigs and cats. The depths of hate within these "researchers" really shock me and scare me.
Posted by z rains on 06/05/2009 @ 09:43AM PT
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this is horrible i hope who ever did this to this poor monkey-i agree with you Tierny this is inexcusable there should be a certain place reserved for people that do this to the animals the depth of callousness in these researchers is unbelievable but it's not over yet!!Pay day will come eventually it has to
Posted by mary strobridge on 06/10/2009 @ 12:18PM PT
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We all hope that all this needless suffering they endure in the hands of cruel barbaric researchers will not be in vain and forgotten and their cries unheard not forgotten but we can only hope that God will answer our innermost prayers for we know that the animals are in our best interest at heart-will he not honour that? I think so and have to believe that he will deal with them in the end. This is the highest level of injustice i have ever seen
Posted by mary strobridge on 06/10/2009 @ 12:29PM PT
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This is horrible. I hope the scum who did this will rot in hell. This could not have been an accident. It was obviously a deliberate act. Where is the justice for this poor monkey.
Posted by sue lesmond on 06/12/2009 @ 06:53PM PT
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It is shameful and terrible!
When will human beings stop being harmful to animals,
animals have the right to be free, happy and respect!
stop animal testing!
Posted by Myriam Aggoun on 06/15/2009 @ 04:31PM PT
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I'm not intending to go all zealot here... but there is no such thing as crimes that go unpaid.
When the perpetrators (be they careless lab workers, slaughterhouse pig-stickers, or simply standard American flesh eaters) face the moment of truth to the One who holds us accountable... the laws and punishments of man will pale in comparisson.
Karma is real and relentless in it's purpose of teaching us compassion for all beings.
Posted by mistie gotch on 06/18/2009 @ 12:37PM PT
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THIS IS SO SAD WHAT HORRIFIC TORTURE THIS ANIMAL ENDURED THROUGH THE HANDS OF A HUMAN BEAST MY HEART BLEEDS FOR THIS INNOCENT AND BEAUTIFUL CREATURE
Posted by A G on 06/23/2009 @ 09:52AM PT
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there are too many evil himans out there, justice is so often not recived by the animals, they get exploited in so many ways and never get justice.
Posted by Soodle Billy on 06/25/2009 @ 11:37AM PT
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How could anyone do such a cruel thing? Truly heartless and evil.
Posted by Janet Dhaliwal on 07/02/2009 @ 05:32AM PT
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Vivisection is the blackest of all the black crimes that man is at present committing against God and His fair creation. It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practice elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures...
"Gandhi, Mahatma"
Posted by Ryan Wolfanger on 07/05/2009 @ 02:04PM PT
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Oh, my...this is beyond sad. My heart is so broken for this beautiful and I am sure LOVING animal. How can people be so cold. This has to end.
Posted by Mary Poole on 07/06/2009 @ 10:04AM PT
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Torturing animals is a sign of anti-social personality disorder which is what serial killers:charles manson, ed gein, and dahmer all have in common.
They can justify their actions, but they are deeply sick people and should be institutionalized at the very least!
This article left me sick to my stomach!
Posted by alyssa dockter on 07/06/2009 @ 03:50PM PT
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Put me on the jury and I would hold them responsible. Since when don't we try a criminal case because the judge thinks the jury won't convict. This is still America or is it? If the proper officials won't even attempt to do their jobs they should be charged as accessories and suffer prosecution.
Posted by Mary Ann Clark on 07/17/2009 @ 09:01AM PT
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This is just too gruesome to fathom. Where is the justice for this helpless being?
Posted by Ann K on 07/31/2009 @ 11:35AM PT
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Animals should be treated with compassion and mercy whenever and whereever possible, without exception.
Posted by Julian Russell on 09/24/2009 @ 06:53AM PT
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After reading the artical of this poor unfortunate life and what is sad is the monkey don't even have a chance to live a normal free life not even a glance!! I can't stop crying.. Rest in peace..
Posted by pam ratanamangcla on 09/26/2009 @ 06:44AM PT
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What unspeakable cruelty, and unspeakable evil.
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is that good people do nothing" Edmund Burke.
Let us all make sure that this poor monkey did not die for nothing. If anything can be learned from this tragic and terrible story, it must be that we must all try to end this evil which is called 'vivisection' or 'animal testing'. This huge industry is supported by governments around the world who collude with big business (the petro-chemical and pharmaceutical industry) who profit from such disgusting research by 'testing their products on animals' and thus allowing them to release dangerous drugs onto the market as well as poisonous chemicals which enter our food, air, water and soil. animal testing is an excellent legal defence in court for such companies, because in order for such disgusting companies to be held liable and accountable for thier actions, the prosecutors have to prove 'negligence', and with animal testing in place as the law stands now, even thouhg we all know that animal testing is a lie, this is an excellent legal defence in court against negligence.
We must all do our part, writing petitions, peaceful protest and assembly, and above all educating the public against this evil which not only is horrific and cruel to millions of animals aroudn the world who are sacrificed every year to this industry, such as this poor monkey, but is also helping to pollute and poison the environment, as well as ourselves. it is no accident that cancer rates are almost 1 in 2 now, and juvenile cancer, almost unheard of 100 years ago, is now at an all time high. this is because of all the poisons in our food, air and water and soil which are released onto the market after being passed as 'safe' because they have been tested on animals. This evil industry of vivisection has governments, big business and the media on its side, the media helps by causing smoke screens and never printing the truth about this evil industry, instead many newspapers and media outlets make money from the petro-pharma-chemical advertisers, and will not print anything that tells the truth about this evil and wicked industry which not only harms animals but also goes on to destroy the environment and harm humans. For the sake of humanity and the future of this planet as well as the animals, this evil must end. But it will never end if we just sit in armchairs and do nothing. We must all speak out against the lies and the fraud and the cruelty, then, and only then, will this poor monkey who suffered unspeakably will not have died in vain.
Rest in peace my little one, rest with God and the angels little monkey God bless you.
Posted by William C on 10/24/2009 @ 07:22AM PT
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