4.27.06

Hello!!

Please join us for the CU34/World Week for Animals in Labs Protest tomorrow night. This event is hosted by In Defense of Animals, RMAD, National Endowment for the Animals, CU PAW, PETA, and the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center. That’s quite an endorsement! Join these groups in taking a stand against ALL archaic animal experimentation, including the horrific and ludicrous alcohol experiments being conducted at the CU Health Sciences Center. Posters and information will be provided. The complete press release is posted below the calendar.

What: CU34/World Week for Animals in Labs Protest
When: Friday, April 28th, 2006
Time: 6:30 p.m.Where: CU Health Sciences Center, (8th and Colorado) Denver
Details: A Boulder carpool will be gathering at 5:15 p.m. at Wild Oats on Baseline. We’ll depart at 5:30 p.m. Please RSVP to me at RMAD (chrisj@rmad.org) if you think you’ll be carpooling and/or can provide a car. We will meet on the northeast corner of 8th and Colorado. There is a large sign on that corner that says Health Sciences Center or something similar. You really can't miss it. Parking on the street is usually not a problem at that time of day/night. If you come from I-70, just turn south onto Colorado and go several miles to 8th Street. If you're coming from I-25, get off at Colorado and go north to 8th Street. From 6th Avenue, take Colorado 2 blocks to the north to 8th Street. From Colfax turn south on Colorado and go to 8th Street.

RMAD’s Prairie Wildlife Team is off to a great start. Team members have already been appearing in the media, attending media, researching, networking, and working hard to strategize our advocacy. RMAD Executive Director Dave Crawford was on a radio show in El Paso, Texas, to discuss RMAD’s prairie wildlife work and has been in demand by the media for his views and input. If you’re are interested in joining the team, please contact me. We meet every other Thursday evening in Boulder

A group of volunteers is hosting Shrine Circus demos this week. Please review the show times, below, and let Ann Swissdorf (anns@rmad.org) know which times you would like to protest and the group will set up some demos.- Friday, April 28th, 6:30 PM- Saturday, April 29th, 9 AM- Saturday, April 29, 1:30 PM- Saturday, April 29th, 6:30 PM- Sunday, April 30th, 1 PM

Location: National Western Complex, 4655 Humboldt St. Denver. Map and directions: http://www.nationalwestern.com/complex/Maps/maps.asp.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Table with RMAD at the Boulder Creek Festival! The festival hours are as follows: Saturday, May 27: 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, May 28: 10:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m.; Monday, May 29: 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. More info can be found at (www.bouldercreekfestival.com). If you want to help out, please contact donnam@rmad.org and tell her which day(s) and time(s) you prefer, and whether you have experience tabling or not. This is always a lot of fun but there are a lot of hours to fill so please help out if you can.

Ann Swissdorf is looking for volunteers for her HEALTH table at both the Boulder Creek Festival and the People’s Fair in Denver. If you’re interested in working the HEALTH booth, please email Ann at anns@rmad.org.

Requests For Help:

RMAD needs a laptop for tabling! We’re looking for a decent machine for our tabling needs. This would be considered a tax-deductible donation. Please contact me if you can help.
Support RMAD!

Become a monthly donor! It’s painless and we do the work for you. Please email me if you are interested. Another way to support RMAD is by using the EcoISP as your internet service provider. Check them out at www.ecoisp.com.

See you Friday night!!

- Chris

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For Immediate Release:

Contact: Rita Anderson (303) 527-3372 or (303) 618-3227 (cellular)

IDA Celebrates CU Decision to Transfer 11
Monkeys to Sanctuary

Activists Hold Protest During World Week for Animals in Laboratories
to Urge Transfer of Remaining Monkeys

Denver, Colo.—In the wake of an announcement by the University of Colorado (CU) that it intends to release eleven monkeys to a sanctuary, members of The Committee for Research Accountability (CRA) (a project of In Defense of Animals), along with Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, National Endowment for the Animals, Nonviolence United, CU Partnership for Animal Welfare, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will gather on campus to urge the school to send all the monkeys held captive at the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) to a sanctuary. The gathering coincides with World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL), an international week of action against animal experiments.

When: April 28, 2006, 6:30 p.m.
Where: University of Colorado, 8th and Colorado, Denver

CU has been under fire for Mark Laudenslager’s questionable studies using monkeys, most recently to determine if poor mothering in monkeys contributes to alcohol abuse in their adolescent offspring. In February, the University announced plans to transfer the monkeys to Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

For 17 years, Laudenslager used the colony to study the effect of separating infant monkeys from their mothers. His current studies investigate whether poor mothering leads to alcohol abuse in adolescent monkeys. CU documents obtained by In Defense of Animals (IDA) indicate that Laudenslager will conduct his alcohol studies on the monkeys long-distance from CU in Denver.

Of Laudenslager’s studies, Lawrence A. Hansen, M.D., Professor of Neurosciences and Pathology at the University of California, San Diego, has stated, “It’s obvious that the researchers have monkeys and want money, so they have contrived a study linking poor mothering to increased impulsivity, aggression and alcohol consumption, while giving it a patina of actual science.”

“The monkeys have suffered loss and deprivation for years at CU, living most of their lives in a 100 year-old basement which did not even meet federal standards,” said Rita Anderson of The Committee for Research Accountability. “These long-suffering primates deserve a chance to live their final years in the relative freedom of a sanctuary.”

WWAIL is an annual week of events to educate the public about the scientific, moral and economic objections to animal experimentation. Activists across the country join Denver animal advocates in organizing protests, vigils and other educational outreach events.

For more information please visit www.FreeTheCU34.org.
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