Chapter 1. Ethics in Animal Research: The Sad Case of Booee…

Short Description

This video raises important questions about the ethics of research on animals. If we share important similarities with other animals, should we not respect them? As a participant in research on animal communication, Booee mastered sign language.

Long Description

This video raises important questions about the ethics of research on animals. If we share important similarities with other animals, should we not respect them? As a participant in research on animal communication, Booee mastered sign language. When funding for the study in which he was involved ended in the early 1980s, the chimp, then 13 years old, returned to the harsh world of biomedical research. Although Booee experienced a dramatic change in lifestyle, he seemed to settle in quite satisfactorily with 40 other chimps. All the animals were involved in research on serious physical illnesses. Booee was placed in his own cage. To break the boredom of solitary confinement, staff provided the animals with combs, toothbrushes, and mirrors. In their fascination with these objects, the chimps demonstrated human-like qualities. One animal even seemed to develop some facility with a harmonica. When time permitted, the investigators held parties to entertain the animals with music, games, and balloons. After 16 years, Booee was reunited with the researcher who had taught him sign language. Remarkably, Booee immediately recognized the researcher and together they picked up communication where they had left off. The chimp even remembered and signed his former teacherís nickname. Booee seemed crushed when the researcher signed that it was time for him to leave. The narrator indicates that, in the 40 years chimps have been used in research, their living conditions have noticeably improved. They are now typically allowed to live in social groups, at least until they are used as participants in specific experiments.

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