I have posted this unedited letter from Doctor Katz for only one reason; to inform people

      of the realities described by Doctor Katz. And for no other reason.

To view the petition please go to the bottom of this page.

J. B. Suconik

In Defense of Animals

"I've had many years experience in neuroscience research, but I have never previously encountered experiments which would deliver quite so much suffering to higher primates for so comparatively little scientific gain."

Dr. Lawrence Hansen

UC-San Diego neuroscientist

Dear Friend of Animals,

For--24-years Stephen Lisberger-has been 'torturing monkeys in the cruelest of experiments.

Lisberger begins his torture by slicing open the eyes of his victims so that wire coils can be placed inside.

Screws and bolts are then drilled into their skulls, metal plates are inserted under their scalps and electrodes are driven into their brains.

The suffering and abuse intensifies as the monkeys are strapped in restraining chairs their heads tightly bolted so as to render them immovable.

The terrified monkeys are then held in the chairs for up to eight hours a day while electrodes implanted in their brains record the monkeys' brain activity.

If a monkey doesn't perform, he or she is denied all fluids
          until--the--next day-when the -chair—torture" begins- again.

University of California San Francisco (UCSF) records reveal gruesome cycles of multiple surgeries, chronic infections, swollen eyes, seeping pus, infected brains, and bleeding wounds.

Unbelievably, Lisberger's twisted mind considers the agonizing chair experiments and the handling of the monkeys by technicians who shuttle them.between cage and chair to be "psychological enrichment."

In this day and age with the common use of non-invasive human scanning technologies, reading Lisberger's research protocols and clinical records is like reading a research manual from the Dark Ages.

With each page I turn, I get angrier and angrier—outraged by what Lisberger does to his monkey victims—outraged that UCSF administrators would condone and defend such shocking cruelty and abuse    outraged that the National Institutes of Health would fund it.

If we are ever to move the biomedical community away from the horrors it perpetrates on innocent animals, individuals like Lisberger must be stopped—their cruelties ended.

Just as we ended the Oregon Regional Primate Center's psychotropic drug experiments on monkeys and Rockefeller University's vomiting experiments on cats, so will we end Lisberger's cruelty.

And just as•we stopped New York University's crack cocaine experiments on monkeys; Barrow Institute's brain cancer experiments on Beagle puppies; the United States Army's ludicrous bone breaking experiments on retired racing greyhounds; and just as we closed down the infamous Coulston Foundation, once the largest chimpanzee vivisection laboratory in the world so shall we, with your help, end the vicious experiments of Stephen Lisberger.

As a veterinarian committed to being a voice for animals in need, I have no intention of ever turning my back on their torture their pain their terrible suffering.

To put my concerns into action, 24 years ago I founded In Defense of Animals. With the help of a determined staff, and tens of thousands of caring IDA supporters, we have had many victories,

-1*,both here at home and around the world.

In addition to our aforementioned victories, our achievements and victories also include:

*        Securing the release of 180 "research" beagles scheduled to be killed and dissected by UC Davis Veterinary students.

*        Creating a chimpanzee sanctuary deep in the forests of Cameroon, Africa that today provides a safe haven to 59 adult and baby chimpanzees, most orphaned by the chimpanzee bushmeat trade.

•        Canceling a proposed slaughter of thousands of baby seals off the coast of South Africa.

*        Rescuing hundreds of dogs and cats after a devastating firestorm swept through the Oakland/Berkeley hills, destroying more than 3,500 homes.

*        Helping pass a law that, for the first time, protects Taiwan's 1.7 million stray dogs from cruelty, abandonment, and exploitation.

*        Liberating 40 dolphins when IDA investigator Ben White flew to Japan and swam underwater in the dead of night to cut the nets that imprisoned the terrified animals.

*        Forcing the transfer of elephants from the San Francisco and Los Angeles zoos to an elephant sanctuary.

           _* Saving the lives of hundreds of injured and starving -doqs     and cats, horses and cattle made homeless by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

*        Creating a sanctuary in rural Mississippi which has saved the lives of thousands of injured, abandoned and abused animals.

*        Preventing the Forest Service from rounding up 1,400 wild horses from a Nevada federal preserve.

*        Preventing construction of a massive animal research facility in a national park.

I am proud that the organization I founded 24 years ago, has become an effective international organization dedicated to preventing and ending animal cruelty and abuse whenever and wherever it might occur--with a staff not afraid to take on the most difficult of challenges.

That is why  I am writing to you today.

On Lisberger's website, he boasted of his good life—lunchtime workouts at the local gym, surfing the net to keep up on the stock market and the San Francisco Giants, dining at chic Bay Area restaurants, wine tasting on Saturdays, and softball games on Sundays.

Stopping Lisberger will not be easy but I am positive that with your help we will end his horrific animal torture and the cruelty that is causing such terrible pain and suffering.

We won an important victory when the California State Court of Appeals gave us the right to gain access to UCSF and Lisberger's records the source of the information I am bringing to you today the documentation we are bringing to members of

the media, to the public, and to our elected representatives. Here is what you can do today.

* Sign the enclosed petition to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi making her aware of Lisberger's experiments--cruelty that is taking place in her own backyard demanding an end to this ludicrous animal cruelty.

* Educate others by circulating copies of the enclosed brochure to your legislators and in your community. Additional copies are available free of charge by calling IDA.

* And please, send as large a tax-deductible donation as you possibly can. Your donation of $20, -$35, $50, $100 O-r-more -is vital to winning this most important fight of exposing and finally ending Lisberger's fiendish cruelty.

Funds are urgently needed to place ads and print thousands of brochures, flyers and posters, to do whatever it takes to end Lisberger's vicious cycle of animal cruelty and abuse.

Be assured that we will make each dollar do the work of many—that neither I, nor my staff will rest until the terrible injustices befalling our animal friends come to an end.

I thank you for your kindness, generosity, and commitment to ending the exploitation and suffering of animals.

For the animals who have died such terrible deaths and for those who are currently suffering, let us never rest until the horrors end.

The animals have no voice with which to thank you, but i do. So on their behalf, I thank you so very much for your caring, compassion and generosity.

Respectfully,

P/V7

Elliot M. - Kat AFDVM President, ID

P.S. Your participation is critical in helping us end the terrible cruelty of Stephen Lisberger and so many others like him. So please sign the enclosed petition and send as generous a donation to IDA as you possibly can. The horrors that befall these gentle beings must, and will end.

 In Defense of Animals • 3010 Kerner Blvd., San Rafael, CA 94901 • (415)388-9641 • ida@idausa.org • www.idausa.org