Mon 2/26-- COME PROTEST AT UMC IN JACKSON, MS AND BE ON TV!

February 26, 2007

CROSS POST FREELYPlease join us to protest at UMC and urge the administration to release

former UConn monkey Mowgli to sanctuary. WAPT news will be covering

the event and it'd be great to have a healthy showing. Come be a hero for

animals for a day!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2007@ UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL CENTER (at the main entrance)2500 North State Street

Jackson, MS

1pm sharp!

For info: cheetahs2www.uchckillsmonkeys.com/umc.html Campaign info:In October 2006, a seven year old (b. 2/7/99) male rhesus macaque (like the ones pictured above) named Mowgli was transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical Center when a research lab at the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) was closed after accruing eighteen violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and receiving harsh scrutiny from the university, USDA and local activists. The facility is currently under investigation by the USDA.Mowgli was received at UMC under the supervision of Dr. Paul May, a Professor of Anatomy who conducts similar highly invasive, deadly neurological research on both monkeys and cats.While the University of Mississippi Medical Center has recently produced a statement claiming that they are currently in compliance with all relevant animal welfare guidelines (this has yet to be verified), the institution has an abominable history of concern for animal welfare. Would you consider the following, as UMC does, the "highest standards" of animal care??

UMC ABUSES ANIMALS As of the most recent available USDA annual population reports from UMC (Fall 2005), there were 63 nonhuman primates, 27 dogs, 61 cats, 106 hamsters, 165 rabbits and 68 pigs being exploited at the facility in experiments that involve "accompanying pain and distress."

UMC SUPPORTS ANIMAL ABUSERS For over ten years, UMC conducted business with Arkansas random-source animal dealer C.C. Baird who, in 2005, was charged with over 100 counts of animal abuse and neglect and ordered to pay a $262,000 fine to the USDA. In March 1994, Baird transported 56 dogs and six cats to the UMC. When the truck reached the center, 42 of the dogs were dead, yet the university continued to conduct business with him until at least 2003 (scroll down on the page for list of Baird's customers as late as 2003). It was also discovered that Baird purchased dogs that had been stolen from their owners and subsequently sold to research labs such as UMC.

UMC ELIMINATED ACCOUNTABILITY In 2000, UMC in concert with a variety of biomedical industry lobbying groups, helped block a widely-supported amendment of federal animal welfare legislation that would have placed regulations on the use of rats and mice in laboratory research. These animals currently represent over 90% of animals used in biomedical research yet, thanks to UMC and the Foundation for Biomedical Research, among others, they receive no protection under federal legislation.

UMC VIOLATES THE LAW Furthermore, UMC remains one of only twelve medical training schools in the U.S. that continues to utilize live animals such as dogs in student surgical training exercises when schools such as Yale, Harvard and Stamford have all abandoned the practice in favor of humane alternatives. In May 2006, the health advocacy group Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine submitted a letter to UMC notifying them that "their use of live animals in student training exercises is unlawful under the federal Animal Welfare Act because alternatives are readily available."