Unnecessary Fuss
Encyclopedia
Unnecessary Fuss is a film produced by Ingrid Newkirk
and Alex Pacheco
of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA), showing footage shot inside the University of Pennsylvania
's Head Injury Clinic in Philadelphia.
The footage was shot in 1983—1984 by the researchers themselves as they inflicted brain damage on baboons with a hydraulic device. The experiments were conducted as part of a research project into head injuries caused by vehicle and sports accidents. The footage shows the researchers laughing at the baboons as the brain damage is inflicted.
Sixty hours of audio- and videotape were removed from the laboratory during a raid in May 1984 by the Animal Liberation Front
, who handed it over to PETA. It was subsequently edited down to 26 minutes with a voice-over commentary by Newkirk, before being distributed to the media and Congress. Charles McCarthy, director of the Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR) wrote that the film had overstated the deficiencies in the clinic, but that the OPRR had found serious violations of the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. As a result of the publicity, the lab was closed, the chief veterinarian fired, and the university placed on probation.
The title of the film comes from a statement made to The Globe and Mail by the head of the clinic, neurosurgeon Thomas Gennarelli before the raid. He declined to describe his research to the newspaper because, he said, it had "the potential to stir up all sorts of unnecessary fuss ..."
writes that "it is difficult to put into words just how ugly [this] brief movie is." The film shows at least one sedated but not anesthetized baboon with his wrists and ankles tied, strapped to an operating table, his shaved head secured with dental cement inside a helmet. A hydraulic device known as Penn 2 slams the baboon's head from behind, pushing it forward at a 60-degree angle with a force of what the researchers said was up to 1000 g
, apparently intended to simulate whiplash.
After the injury is sustained, the baboon's head is dislodged from the helmet using a hammer and screwdriver. One sequence shows part of the baboon's ear being torn off along with the helmet. After pulling the baboon's head from the helmet, the researcher is heard to laugh, saying: "It's a boy," then, "Looks like I left a little ear behind."
The footage shows the researchers laughing at injured baboons, performing electrocautery
on an apparently conscious baboon, smoking cigarettes and pipes during surgery, and playing loud music as the animals are injured. A researcher is seen holding a seriously injured baboon up to the camera, while others speak to the animal: "Don't be shy now, sir, nothing to be afraid of," followed by laughter, and "He says, 'you're gonna rescue me from this, aren't you? Aren't you?'," followed by more laughter.
While one baboon was being injured on the operating table by the hydraulic device, the camera panned to a brain-damaged, drooling monkey strapped into a high chair in a corner of the room, with the words "Cheerleading in the corner, we have B-10. B-10 wishes his counterpart well. As you can see, B-10 is still alive. B-10 is hoping for a good result," followed by laughter. In another sequence, one researcher is heard to say: "You better hope the ... anti-vivisection people don't get a hold of this film."
The violations included that the depth of anaesthetic coma was questionable; that most of the animals were not seen by a veterinarian either before or after surgery, survival surgical techniques were not carried out in the required aseptic manner; that the operating theater was not properly cleaned; and that smoking was allowed in the operating theater despite the presence of oxygen tanks.
When PETA made its 26-minute film available, the OPRR initially refused to investigate because the film had been edited from 60 hours of videotape. For over a year PETA refused to release the original footage. When they eventually handed over the unedited material, the OPRR discovered that the footage of the brain damage being inflicted involved just one baboon out of the 150 who had received the Penn 2 injuries. The film gave the impression that the brain-damage scenes involved several animals.
The OPRR identified 25 errors in Newkirk's voice-over commentary. One example was where an accidental water spill over a conscious baboon during a surgical procedure was identified, incorrectly, by one of the Head Injury Clinic's researchers, and subsequently by Newkirk, as "perhaps acid."
, and the personal intervention of Margaret Heckler
, then Health and Human Services
secretary, the government concluded that the violations seen on the footage were sufficient to justify the clinic's closure. The OPRR also found deficiencies in other laboratories operated by the university. The university's chief veterinarian was fired, new training programs were initiated, and the university was placed on probation, with quarterly progress reports to OPRR required.
Ingrid Newkirk
Ingrid Newkirk is a British-born animal rights activist and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , the world's largest animal rights organization...
and Alex Pacheco
Alex Pacheco (activist)
Alexander Fernando Pacheco is an American animal rights activist. He is the co-founder and former chairman of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals...
of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
(PETA), showing footage shot inside the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
's Head Injury Clinic in Philadelphia.
The footage was shot in 1983—1984 by the researchers themselves as they inflicted brain damage on baboons with a hydraulic device. The experiments were conducted as part of a research project into head injuries caused by vehicle and sports accidents. The footage shows the researchers laughing at the baboons as the brain damage is inflicted.
Sixty hours of audio- and videotape were removed from the laboratory during a raid in May 1984 by the Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
, who handed it over to PETA. It was subsequently edited down to 26 minutes with a voice-over commentary by Newkirk, before being distributed to the media and Congress. Charles McCarthy, director of the Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR) wrote that the film had overstated the deficiencies in the clinic, but that the OPRR had found serious violations of the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. As a result of the publicity, the lab was closed, the chief veterinarian fired, and the university placed on probation.
The title of the film comes from a statement made to The Globe and Mail by the head of the clinic, neurosurgeon Thomas Gennarelli before the raid. He declined to describe his research to the newspaper because, he said, it had "the potential to stir up all sorts of unnecessary fuss ..."
Contents of the film
Deborah BlumDeborah Blum
Deborah Blum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York....
writes that "it is difficult to put into words just how ugly [this] brief movie is." The film shows at least one sedated but not anesthetized baboon with his wrists and ankles tied, strapped to an operating table, his shaved head secured with dental cement inside a helmet. A hydraulic device known as Penn 2 slams the baboon's head from behind, pushing it forward at a 60-degree angle with a force of what the researchers said was up to 1000 g
G-force
The g-force associated with an object is its acceleration relative to free-fall. This acceleration experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of non-gravitational forces acting on an object free to move. The accelerations that are not produced by gravity are termed proper accelerations, and...
, apparently intended to simulate whiplash.
After the injury is sustained, the baboon's head is dislodged from the helmet using a hammer and screwdriver. One sequence shows part of the baboon's ear being torn off along with the helmet. After pulling the baboon's head from the helmet, the researcher is heard to laugh, saying: "It's a boy," then, "Looks like I left a little ear behind."
The footage shows the researchers laughing at injured baboons, performing electrocautery
Cauterization
The medical practice or technique of cauterization is the burning of part of a body to remove or close off a part of it in a process called cautery, which destroys some tissue, in an attempt to mitigate damage, remove an undesired growth, or minimize other potential medical harmful possibilities...
on an apparently conscious baboon, smoking cigarettes and pipes during surgery, and playing loud music as the animals are injured. A researcher is seen holding a seriously injured baboon up to the camera, while others speak to the animal: "Don't be shy now, sir, nothing to be afraid of," followed by laughter, and "He says, 'you're gonna rescue me from this, aren't you? Aren't you?'," followed by more laughter.
While one baboon was being injured on the operating table by the hydraulic device, the camera panned to a brain-damaged, drooling monkey strapped into a high chair in a corner of the room, with the words "Cheerleading in the corner, we have B-10. B-10 wishes his counterpart well. As you can see, B-10 is still alive. B-10 is hoping for a good result," followed by laughter. In another sequence, one researcher is heard to say: "You better hope the ... anti-vivisection people don't get a hold of this film."
University response
The university responded that the film was a "caricature" of what had taken place in the laboratory. Shortly after the ALF raid and before PETA had released the footage, Dr. Thomas Langfitt, chief investigator at the Head Injury Clinic and chair of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital's department of neurosurgery, denied there had been abuse in the laboratory, telling the Philadelphia Daily News that the animals had been treated humanely and that "[r]esearchers would never laugh at the apes. We treat the baboons the way we treat human beings."OPRR investigation
An investigation was conducted by 18 veterinarians from the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, commissioned by the Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR). Charles R. McCarthy, director of the OPRR at the time, wrote that "[d]espite the fact that Unnecessary Fuss grossly overstated the deficiencies in the Head Injury Clinic, OPRR found many extraordinarily serious violations of the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals ... Furthermore, OPRR found deficiencies in the procedures for care of animals in many other laboratories operated under the auspices of the university."The violations included that the depth of anaesthetic coma was questionable; that most of the animals were not seen by a veterinarian either before or after surgery, survival surgical techniques were not carried out in the required aseptic manner; that the operating theater was not properly cleaned; and that smoking was allowed in the operating theater despite the presence of oxygen tanks.
When PETA made its 26-minute film available, the OPRR initially refused to investigate because the film had been edited from 60 hours of videotape. For over a year PETA refused to release the original footage. When they eventually handed over the unedited material, the OPRR discovered that the footage of the brain damage being inflicted involved just one baboon out of the 150 who had received the Penn 2 injuries. The film gave the impression that the brain-damage scenes involved several animals.
The OPRR identified 25 errors in Newkirk's voice-over commentary. One example was where an accidental water spill over a conscious baboon during a surgical procedure was identified, incorrectly, by one of the Head Injury Clinic's researchers, and subsequently by Newkirk, as "perhaps acid."
Sit-in and clinic's closure
After a three-day sit-in by animal-rights activists at the National Institutes of HealthNational Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
, and the personal intervention of Margaret Heckler
Margaret Heckler
Margaret Mary Heckler is a Republican politician from Massachusetts who served in the United States House of Representatives for eight terms, from 1967 until 1983 and was later the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Ambassador to Ireland under President Ronald Reagan...
, then Health and Human Services
United States Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...
secretary, the government concluded that the violations seen on the footage were sufficient to justify the clinic's closure. The OPRR also found deficiencies in other laboratories operated by the university. The university's chief veterinarian was fired, new training programs were initiated, and the university was placed on probation, with quarterly progress reports to OPRR required.