60 Activists Protest UW’s Use Of Primates In Research

Five dozen animal-rights activists marched to the University of Washington on Saturday to protest the use of primates for biomedical research.

One activist, Rick Bogle, said he planned a nine-day vigil outside the university’s Health Sciences Building, where the primate center is located.

Protesters, some wearing monkey masks, gathered at the primate center for a demonstration after the march.

The University of Washington said it treats research animals humanely.

Last fall, Bogle incensed some parents in the Eastern Oregon town of Prairie City by having students in his middle-school classes put bugs outside rather than kill them. The students then put on an animal rights forum, which prompted some parents to ask the school board to fire Bogle.

Bogle held a similar vigil this spring in a vacant field across the street from the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center in Hillsboro. Surrounded by stuffed monkeys, he sat behind a hand-lettered sign that read: “Let my people go.”

The vigil followed a silent protest by about 20 animal rights activists organized by the group In Defense of Animals.