Baboons’ escape from Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital puts spotlight on research
The escape of three baboons from Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital has exposed medical research being conducted at the hospital.
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The escape of three baboons from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on Tuesday night has put the spotlight on medical research being conducted in Sydney.
The baboons were on the loose in a carpark near the hospital for about two hours but were contained by NSW Police just before 7pm.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told The Daily Telegraph that one of the baboons was due to have a vasectomy at the hospital and he was being accompanied by his two wives to “keep him comfortable”.
The baboons escaped from a truck while being transported from a colony in Western Sydney, to an animal research facility at the hospital.
Mr Hazzard said baboons were used as part of medical research ranging from kidney disease to pregnancy issues.
“The research includes reproductive issues, kidney disease, gestational diabetes — a whole range of research areas and with the conclusion of the research they return to the colony in Western Sydney and they usually just live their lives out until old age,” he said.
A source with direct knowledge of the medical research baboons used by the hospital told The Sydney Morning Herald that the baboons are used for studies on subjects including diet, exercise and electric shock. They are housed in a low-security building at the hospital.
A spokesman for the Sydney Local Health District would not confirm whether research was occurring at RPA saying “I can’t make any public comment on that at the moment”.
The use of primates for medical experiments at RPA and a number of other Sydney hospitals and universities was revealed in 2016.
Animals are bred specifically for animal research at the National Health and Medical Research Council baboon colony in Wallacia, in Sydney’s west.
A spokeswoman from the Sydney Local Health District told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2016 that the baboons are used for research on treatments for conditions like pre-eclampsia, complicated diabetes, kidney disorders and vascular diseases.
But the article voiced concerns that “Frankenstein-like surgical experiments” were being done on primates that may have included an apparent cover-up of a kidney transplant from a pig to a baboon.
Animal Justice Party upper house member Emma Hurst told news.com.au the three baboons that escaped on Tuesday night represented the “hidden faces behind animal experimentation”.
“I think all medical experimentation is problematic, you are essentially forcing painful procedures on animals against their will,” Ms Hurst said.
“But we know how intelligent primates are, and how close they are to human beings, and to think about the fear they were probably feeling, even when they escaped, is really quite tragic.”
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Ms Hurst said many of the experiments were “thoughtless and irrelevant” and come from a belief in human domination over animals.
“We do whatever we want to their bodies against their wills, it’s just hideous.”
There is also little information on how many animals are being experimented on and what happens to them.
“The use of animals in experiments has to be one of the most hidden industries,” she said. “We are left to use our imagination as to what these animals are being forced to go through.”
Animal activist and former GP Kevin Coleman, of Sydney Save Animals in Laboratories believes experts were undertaking research into human-baboon hybrid organs to address the transplant crisis.
He also says it is a “major concern” that an animal the size of a baboon is able to escape.
“If an animal the size of a baboon can escape, how many mice have escaped, how many other animals have escaped?” he told AAP.
“We just don’t know and this is the problem. We have to have transparency on these issues.”
NSW Health has been contacted for comment.
Humane Research Australia CEO, Helen Marston said taxpayers are funding the research through the National Health and Medical Research Council.
“Not only is this a cruel and unethical industry, it is a huge waste of precious resources – funding and time that would be better spent on research methods that are applicable to humans – not a pseudo-model of a human that is more likely to lead to erroneous data,” she said.
Originally published as Baboons’ escape from Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital puts spotlight on research