Overview:
UMass Amherst has closed a laboratory that used marmoset monkeys in medical research, following the end of federal research funding and pressure from animal rights activists. The laboratory had been the subject of protests by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who claimed that the monkeys were subjected to torture and experimentation. The university has stated that the laboratory met or exceeded all federal standards of care for the animals used in research.
AMHERST — A University of Massachusetts Amherst laboratory where marmoset monkeys have been used in medical research, leading to periodic protests on campus by animal rights activists, recently closed.
While People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Thursday contended that the shuttering of the marmoset lab is the result of its legal action, officials at UMass are citing the expected end of federal research funding and a move to other research projects as reasons behind concluding the lab’s work.
In an April ruling in its 2022 Suffolk County Superior Court lawsuit, PETA gained access to photos, videos and other documents associated with the research, and said it would be asking UMass trustees to shut down the laboratory.
On the Lacreuse Lab website, Agnes Lacreuse, a primatologist and principal investigator, thanks the National Institutes for Health for funding the research into aging, Alzheimer’s disease and women’s health. She noted that federal funding for science was drying up after the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging and National Institute of Mental Health had lost research grants worth millions of dollars.
“Current efforts to destroy science and slash research funding undermine my ability to provide continued support for nonhuman primate research at UMass,” Lacreuse writes.
Lacreuse, in the midst of completing a large study on helping women with breast cancer to lead better lives, goes on to thank all those who have worked alongside her and supported her, including the marmosets.
“Above all, my heart goes to each one of the beloved monkeys who helped advance scientific knowledge and improve the lives of humans and other animals,” she writes.
Dr. Katherine Roe, a neuroscientist at PETA, though, is concerned that the documents provided from the lawsuit reveal efforts to prevent the organization from getting public records. The records state that Lacreuse asked a former lab staffer to delete any photos on her computer, and questioned colleagues about how to avoid open records laws.
“The documents show a university scrambling to justify what they are doing to these monkeys and trying to figure out how to keep PETA, and thus the public, from seeing the evidence,” Roe said.
Roe added that the attempt to violate open records laws was also an irresponsible way to manage data collected with taxpayer funds.
In a statement released by the UMass news office, UMass confirmed the existing federal grants have ended.
“The lab, whose work has been dedicated to studies that advance the knowledge of the aging process with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease and women’s health (including breast cancer treatments), recently completed NIH grant-funded research using non-human primates. The funded experiments ended as planned, within the scheduled end of the grant.”
UMass officials have in the past stated that the marmoset lab met or exceeded all federal standards of care for the animals used in research and that this work has saved and improved the lives of millions of people and animals.
“Animal research has contributed to many of the medical advances we now know today, including vaccines, antibiotics, anesthesia and medicines used to treat serious conditions. Research in the last few decades has also begun to tackle some of the most complex medical problems we face such as heart disease, depression, HIV and cancer. Many key questions in science can only be addressed by studies on animals.”
PETA has raised concerns with menopause studies involving marmosets, claiming their ovaries are removed and hormones manipulated, and that hand warmers are used on them to mimic hot flashes. Additionally, PETA alleges the marmosets have had electrodes screwed into their skulls, they have been deprived of water and sleep, and been shoved into small cylinders.
There is also now concern with where the marmosets are.
“It is a bittersweet victory as we all share concern about where the marmosets that were in the lab this spring have gone,” said Sheryl Becker of Agawam, president of the Western Massachusetts Animal Rights Advocates. “Until we know their location, none of us can rest.”
Becker added that while it’s a relief no more marmosets will endure the torture of captivity and experimentation, the organization’s work is not done.
“Until UMass stops all animal experimentation on campus and fully brings in human-relevant science in non-animal methods for all science departments, we will continue to educate the college and our community about the perils of animal research,” Becker said.
Though the first concerns with marmoset research came in 2016, after a marmoset died in fall 2015 after being severely burned by a heating pad while recovering from a vasectomy, most of the actions started in 2021, including a protest that September in which Massachusetts-born actor Casey Affleck joined PETA and others in a rally and march on campus. Activists also have worn marmoset masks during commencements and an April 2022 campus visit by U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, and caused a brief disruption at the inauguration of Chancellor Javier Reyes in April 2024.