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Petition launched against university’s experiments on monkeys

The LSCV protesting experimentation on primates in December 2017 in Bern
The LSCV had previously protested research on primates before the Swiss parliament building in Bern in December 2017. Keystone

A petition launched Tuesday against experiments on live monkeys at the University of Fribourg has already gathered nearly 10,000 signatures.

The petition, launched by the Swiss League Against Animal Testing LSCVExternal link, is addressed to the university and to the Fribourg cantonal parliament.

This follows a report in last week’s Swiss Sunday press of tests on live monkeys at two Swiss universities. According to that report, primates at the University of Fribourg are being given cocaine and then subjected to a neurosurgical process to try to cure their addiction.

The petition calls for an immediate halt to experiments that involve giving monkeys cocaine. The LSCV also calls for “the research protocol to be made public so that there can be a scientific and ethical expert analysis, in all transparency”.

Animal rights activists say using primates is ethically unacceptable. However, the University of Fribourg says the project has received all the necessary ethical, veterinary, and government authorisations.

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