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Casey Affleck pens letter to lawmakers about use of baby monkeys in research
“As a parent myself and someone who is close to my own mom, I find these sorts of experiments especially devastating."
Casey Affleck is reportedly lending his support to an effort on Beacon Hill to roll out protections for baby primates used in research.
According to Axios, the Cambridge native and Oscar-winner wrote a letter to Massachusetts legislators urging them to move forward a proposal that would prohibit scientists from separating young primates from their mothers for research purposes.
Affleck, who has championed other animal welfare campaigns in the past, reportedly wrote a letter to State Sen. Lydia Edwards and Rep. Michael Day, chairs of the judiciary committee, ahead of a hearing for the proposed senate bill on Tuesday.
The proposed legislation (H.1948 & S.1167) was introduced in the House by Rep. Sean Reid of Lynn and in the Senate by State Sens. Joan Lovely, Michael Brady, and Michael Moore.
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If adopted, the bills would prohibit researchers from separating young primates from their biological mothers or housing them separately “for the purpose of research, experimentation, or product testing” during the animal’s first year of life. The legislation states that the young primate may be temporarily removed or housed away from its mother only for the “medical welfare” of the baby or mother.
In the letter, published by The Hollywood Reporter, Affleck called on lawmakers to “protect infant primates from the devastation of being taken away from their mothers for experimentation.”
“As a parent myself and someone who is close to my own mom, I find these sorts of experiments especially devastating,” he wrote.
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PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, shared a portion of the letter on their social media saying the actor “is rushing” the letter to lawmakers.
Casey wrote in his letter that he learned from PETA about a lab in Massachusetts where infant monkeys were removed from their mothers and had their eyelids sewn closed for research purposes.
According to Axios, the actor is referring to experiments done by Harvard neuroscientist Margaret Livingstone, whose research has included separating infant macaques from mothers at birth. Her past work also involved temporarily suturing shut the eyelids of some infant monkeys to study the impact on cognition, according to CBS.
Harvard has said that PETA’s campaign against Livingstone is “misleading and contains factual inaccuracies.”
“Research led by Dr. Livingstone continues to provide critical knowledge about vision, visual disorders, brain development and neurological disorders,” the university wrote in 2022. “Insights from Dr. Livingstone’s research in macaques have been instrumental in developing a clinical treatment for tremor, as well as for therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and a lethal brain cancer called glioblastoma that are now under clinical investigation.”
Harvard says all animal research conducted at the university follows federal, state, and institutional policies and regulations to “ensure the humane and safe care of and use of animals.”
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Affleck has worked with PETA previously to draw attention to monkey menopause experiments at University of Massachusetts, animal abuse in circuses, and dehorning of cows on dairy farms, according to the Reporter.
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