From: russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence)
Subject: Re: Silver Spring monkeys
Organization: WP Group
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 06:32:45 GMT

From article <mhulsey-250193161930@fatrat.fcs.uga.edu>, by mhulsey@hestia.fcs.uga.edu (Martin Hulsey):
> Russell Lawrence, who is already having a bad day as a result of last
> night's episode of "60 Minutes," recently posted a quote by Peter Gerone
> concerning the conditions in Ed Taub's lab as "evidence" of Taub's alleged
> "cruelty" toward his monkeys.
>
> I thought that TPA participants would be interested in seeing this letter
> that Gerone wrote.  The letter was provided to me by Taub after I sent him
> a copy of Russell's post.
> [Gerone letter deleted]

Ah, it's nice to see that you're partially awake, Martin.  I 
previously told you, over and over again, that you were 
misconstruing Gerone's position.  To wit, consider the following 
interchange: 

======================================================================   
mh> I resent Gerone's false implication that Taub mistreated his monkeys.

rl> Why don't you try to critically understand what Gerone was saying
rl> instead of trying to discredit every statement that doesn't suit your
rl> ideology?
======================================================================   

Or better still, consider the following:

======================================================================
mh> Gerone's "hands on" experience with these monkeys months after the Taub
mh> incident has absolutely no bearing on whether Taub treated his monkeys in a
mh> cruel fashion.  Gerone's assessment of Taub is an opinion that is obviously
mh> not based on the legal record.  He is, in this instance, acting as an
mh> apologist for PETA.  

rl> You're jumping to conclusions here -- bigtime.  

mh> Not really.  Gerone's opinion of Taub is not consistent with the legal
mh> record.  It is consistent with PETA's account of the events.

rl> Reread the statement, Martin, and try to think about it critically
rl> without bending and shaping the evidence to make it fit your theories:
rl> 
rl>        ...  Scientists who work with animals now know that 
rl>        they are being scrutinized, and they act accordingly.  
rl>        "Today, you'd never see conditions like the Silver 
rl>        Spring Monkeys because people are more conscious of 
rl>        this," says Gerone.  "Ten years ago, there was a lot 
rl>        less consciousness on the part of researchers about how 
rl>        they cared for animals.  The animal rights movement has 
rl>        done a great deal to increase the consciousness of 
rl>        people working with animals." 
rl> 
rl> see The Washington Post, February 24, 1991, FINAL Edition
rl> 
rl> It's hardly a condemnation of Taub.  Rather, it's a statement about
rl> growing awareness in the research community.
======================================================================

> Therefore, it is obvious that Gerone was one of many reasonable people who
> was falsely convinced of Taub's guilt by PETA's hyperbolic propaganda.  How
> many others are out there?   

Read the letter again, Martin.   

-- 
Russell Lawrence, WP Group, New Orleans (504) 443-5000
russ@wpg.com   uunet!wpg!russ
Newsgroups: talk.politics.animals