A small group of protesters stood at the entrance to the University Medical Center Monday afternoon, holding signs and passing out information to passersby. They were there to protest vivisection, the practice of using live animals for medical research and training, often through programs supported by U.S. government sources.
“We want to raise awareness—especially here in Jackson—that (citizens’) tax money is going to fund these experiments,” said Brenda Bostick, who came to Jackson with three other members of the Memphis Area Animal Rights Activists.
Their specific cause was Mowgli, an 8-year-old macaque monkey, who came to UMC from a laboratory at the University of Connecticut that was shut down last summer in the wake of numerous animal-welfare violations and deaths, according to The Hartford Courant. UConn grad student and animal activist Justin Goodman petitioned for the lab’s closure after he found out about an experiment where a monkey died, and he has been following the lab animals’ fates since.
“Mowgli is not going to leave the lab alive, unless we convince the center to let him go,” said Bostick. UMC said in a press release in January that all research animals are in good health and receive daily care.
The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.
