Shameful experiments on 14 rhesus macaques at Louisiana State University US were injected with 30% alcohol voor 14 months and 3 months later a virus injected into their vagina, 9 months later, killed

Rhesus macaques force-fed alcohol for many months, infected with a virus, then killed in USA research

A rhesus macaque in a laboratory cage
SOKO Tierschutz/Cruelty Free International

In another tragic waste of lives and critical resources, rhesus macaques were used and killed as "models" of chronic binge drinking in people (Poret et al 2025). The work was done at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in the USA, and was approved by its animal use committee. The US taxpayer paid for this inhumane and brutal treatment of monkeys through grants AA009803 and AA028459, from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), totalling many millions of US dollars.

Fourteen adult female Indian-origin rhesus macaques were used. The macaques were subjected to surgery to implant catheters that went into their stomachs. One group received ethanol injections to simulate "chronic binge" alcohol use. A 'control' group received water. The alcohol was at a concentration of 30%, totalling 13-14 grams of ethanol per kilogram of body weight, injected five days a week for over 14 months. No information was provided on the impact the alcohol had on the macaques.

Three months into the alcohol treatment, all the macaques were given the simian immunodeficiency virus into their vaginas. A little over two months later, they were treated with an antiviral medication. Nine months after the viral infection, all were subjected to 24 hours of food deprivation and then killed (euphemistically referred to as euthanized by the researchers) by anaesthetising them and injecting them with a salt solution using an "embalming machine", to get tissues for study.

The researchers stated that macaques were to be killed before their scheduled deaths, if at any point any lost 25% of their body weight, refused to eat for four days, had major organ failure or had other medical or surgical complications that could not be treated. It was stated that two of the macaques were killed before the end of the study, but no reasons were provided.

Surprisingly, there was no description of how the macaques were housed, contrary to the ARRIVE guidelines required by many reputable journals (ARRIVE). As a result, we have to assume the macaques were singly caged with the standard lack of any meaningful social or other enrichment.

The researchers found that forced chronic alcohol use during infection with the simian immunodeficiency virus has effects on fatty tissue. These chronic effects are already known to occur in humans.

The public are repeatedly told that non-human primates are used in research only when absolutely necessary and only when there are no other alternatives available. This shameful experiment, which resulted in substantial suffering for the monkeys, demonstrates the meaningless nature of such assurances and a lack of commitment to stop using non-human primates. Not only is the information in macaques irrelevant to people given the fundamental differences between the two species, humane and ethical clinical studies have been and can continue to be done on human patients and volunteers in order to get data that are directly applicable to people. The macaques in this study had to endure the stress of captivity, almost certainly virtual social isolation, survival surgery, the severe negative effects of alcohol and death for what can only be considered frivolous reasons and clearly contrary to the Replacement criterion for the 3Rs.

Substance abuse, such as with the alcohol forced into these macaques, is a purely human disease. It is far more complex than simply using a drug. There are genetic, socioeconomic and other factors that must be considered if humans with drug addiction are to be helped. Continuing to concoct cruel and fatal experiments using non-human primates in the search for a 'magic bullet' that will cure people is not only costly, it is futile (Magliaro & Ahluwalia 2022). If we are serious about helping people, then we need to put all our intellectual and limited financial and other resources into responsibly and ethically studying the existing and huge laboratory already available to us: the world human population.

What you can do to help:

• Click here—Dr George F. Koob—to create sample message you can edit and send to the director of the NIAAA, responsible for this inhumane research, and to others below who are directly and indirectly responsible as well; if you are using Web-based mail, use buttons below box to copy information to Clipboard for pasting into relevant parts of a blank message.
  To:
  George F. Koob, Ph.D., Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism <george.koob@nih.gov>
  Cc:
  Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., Director, National Institutes of Health <jayanta.bhattacharya@nih.gov>
  Heather Narver, DVM, Animal Program Director/Facility Veterinarian, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism <narverh@mail.nih.gov>
  Steve Nelson, MD, Chancellor of LSU Health New Orleans <snelso1@lsuhsc.edu>
  NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare <olaw@od.nih.gov>
  Michael F. Miles, M.D. Ph.D., Editor, Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research <michael.miles@vcuhealth.org>
  admin@actionforprimates.org
  
  
•    
• If you are a US citizen, also let your President, Representative and Senators know that you do not approve of your taxes being used to fund such inhumane experiments: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
• If you are an alumnus of Louisiana State University, click this E-mail address to let them know that you will not support the alumni association unless the university discontinues research on non-consenting beings: info@lsualumni.org

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Cited information:

1. Poret, Jonquil M.; Liz Simon and Patricia E. Molina 2025-04-01 Chronic binge alcohol dysregulates omental adipose tissue extracellular matrix in simian immunodeficiency virus-infected macaques Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research 49(4):741-753
2. ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) https://arriveguidelines.org/ Accessed 2024-06-21

recommendations for the full and transparent reporting of research involving animals – maximising the quality and reliability of published research, and enabling others to better scrutinise, evaluate and reproduce it

3. Magliaro, Chiara and Ahluwalia, Arti 2022-11-01 "Biomedical Research on Substances of Abuse: The Italian Case Study" Alternatives to Laboratory Animals 50(6):423-436

...the impact of social, psychological and economic factors that determine the onset and persistence of addiction (and recovery from it) in humans. Indeed, the predictive validity of animal models of addiction is poor, with few effective treatments deriving from animal studies. ...the principal argument against animal experiments in the field of substances of abuse is that addiction in humans is a complex disorder which encompasses psychological, social and emotional variables that are impossible to model in animals.

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Information on NIH grant support (funding) is taken verbatim from relevant publications. If you have difficulty with any links provided, you can do your own search through the NIH RePORTER site: https://reporter.nih.gov/, by copying and pasting the grant number into the Search field on the form.

Be aware that some grants include funds for more than experiments on non-human primates.

    

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U.S.Military ends ‘painful’ experiments on cats, dogs, monkeys and stops shooting of animals in ‘trauma’ exercises

 

The defense bill that President Donald Trump signed into law puts an end to many military experiments on cats and dogs and declares a ceasefire to shooting animals in “trauma” exercises. The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, enacted Dec. 18, includes a provision that bans the Defense Department from continuing to conduct and sponsor “painful research” on domestic cats and dogs as live test subjects.

 The bill also orders the Defense Department to ensure that it will not engage in “live-fire trauma training” that targets dogs, cats, nonhuman primates and marine mammals. Supporters said the bill ends exercises that involved shooting, critically wounding and killing goats and pigs to help educate medics in treating combat injuries. The legislation directs the military to use technologically advanced human simulators instead. 

The shift is part of a government-wide effort to phase out the use of live animals in federally sponsored tests, studies and training, with pressure growing from the Trump administration, Congress and animal welfare groups to end the practice. The Navy in May implemented a total ban on experiments using cats and dogs. The Department of Veterans Affairs is phasing out research on cats, dogs and non-human primates. 

The defense secretary can make exceptions in the interests of national security. Exemptions also may be made for training and studies related to military or service animals. Lawmakers from both parties welcomed the restrictions on live-animal tests and trainings in the 2026 defense bill. “It is indefensible to waste tax dollars designed to boost our national security on cruel and pointless experiments on cats and dogs,” said Sen. Jodi Ernst, R-Iowa, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard. 

“Research and testing methods involving dogs and cats are outdated. We must adopt more scientific approaches to improve lives,” said Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., a former first lieutenant in the Air Force. The military, for example, increasingly uses technologically advanced human simulators that physicians say better prepare medics for battlefield injuries. New restrictions on using domestic cats and dogs in military studies target research that is “painful” but does not end all experiments. Defunded are animal experiments that cause significant and unrelieved pain and distress, under criteria set by the Agriculture Department.  “Our investigation has identified at least 10 active military contracts worth roughly $29 million that are funding painful experiments on dogs and cats in laboratories around the world. 

These projects — and any others now or in the future — are prohibited from spending taxpayer dollars for painful tests on cats and dogs,” said Justin Goodman, senior vice president for advocacy and public policy at White Coat Waste Project, a nonprofit that works to end animal testing by federal agencies. The bill’s language banning the military from conducting live-fire trauma tests on animals identifies dogs, cats, nonhuman primates and marine mammals. 

But advocates say the prohibition applies to all animals. The defense secretary is directed to use alternatives that include advanced simulators, mannequins and cadavers. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which advocated for the ban, said it has worked for years to replace animals in trauma training with “superior human-relevant simulators.” Live-fire trauma tests using animals have been banned in full by the Coast Guard and greatly reduced by the other armed forces, said Shalin Gala, PETA vice president. “But pigs and goats are still used for this training. With the passage of the NDAA, for the first time no live animals, including goats and pigs, will be shot for trauma training in 2026,” Gala said. 

Reporter:

Linda F. Hersey is based in Washington, D.C., and reports on veterans. She previously covered the Navy and Marine Corps at Inside Washington Publishers. She also was a government reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska,