Indian laughter Khyali Saharan also wrote a letter to the Director AIIMS to shift all Monkeys to a rescue centers recognized by the CZA and advised him to adopt alternative methods of testing.​

NEW DELHI: Hollywood actress Pamela Anderson wants to rescue animals allegedly caged inside the AIIMS animal facility. Claiming to have watched video footage taken secretly inside AIIMS, she has shot off a letter to institute director Dr R C Deka, urging him to retire the 'ageing' monkeys to a sanctuary and switch over to modern and humane non-animal research and training methods.

In the letter - sent on behalf of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals ( PETA) - Anderson alleges that many of the monkeys at AIIMS have been languishing in cramped and rusty cages for nearly a decade and that one monkey has been exposed to these harsh conditions for nearly 20 years. AIIMS officials denied that any such letter was received and claimed that the animal facility is 'state of the art'.

More than 40 monkeys and several other animals, including rabbits, mice and guinea pigs, are caged inside the central animal facility at the institute and are used in trials for development of new drugs. Sources said the monkeys were brought for research on human contraceptives several years ago.

"It broke my heart to see the suffering that is documented in the enclosed video. The animals suffering behind closed doors at AIIMS must endure this nightmare every day. I was shocked to see that rabbits are forced to live in wire-floored cages; the sharp wire digs into their sensitive footpads and can cause their feet to get stuck," writes Anderson.

She says that the animals exhibit signs of severe distress. "A monkey is shown climbing the walls and ceiling of the cage in an endless loop, and a rat is shown spinning compulsively. Sick and injured animals, including rabbits, suffering from an infectious skin disease, and rats with wounds, are denied veterinary care. A worker roughly overturns the rat enclosures in order to clean them, slamming the animals inside, including a mother rat desperately trying to protect her newborn babies, against the wire bars," Anderson has written in her one-page letter.

"Please, won't you at least agree to retire the animals that have been at AIIMS the longest to a sanctuary?" she adds. Animal activists from India have often raised the issue of ill-treatment of animals at AIIMS. They claim that the stress of loneliness and lengthy confinement has taken a toll on the animal's psychological health also.

AIIMS spokesperson Dr Y K Gupta said he has no knowledge of any letter written to the AIIMS administration by Pamela Anderson. "Our institute strictly follows the guidelines of the Committee for Purpose of Control and Supervision on Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), ministry of environment and forests," he said. Gupta said while the monkeys are used by the reproductive biology department, the rats are needed for trials on new drugs for diseases like epilepsy as well as for strokes. He said that animal trial is a must for development of any new drug. Monkeys mimic the human model - immunity and acceptance of any drug - best. According to the CPCSEA rules, no animal should be used for experimentation for more than three years unless there is a proper justification. At AIIMS, the authorities have created rehabilitation facilities for such animals, the AIIMS official said.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is excellent as a hospital. As a premier research institute, however, it may have disregarded rules in its treatment of animals kept for testing. Sixty-eight monkeys, 90 rabbits, several sheep and ever-multiplying guinea pigs and rats — most are be lieved to be sick and dying in small cages at AIIMS’s central animal facility. See video

Fifty of the 90 rabbits are suffering from an infectious skin disease, and several including a few guinea pigs have gone blind.

Physical trauma apart, after years of captivity and lack of fresh air many monkeys and rats have gone over the edge: they spend their day going around in circles in their cages — called “nervous breakdown”.

All this information and a video were provided to Hindustan Times by a person who says he/she was allowed unrestricted access to the facility for several days recently.

Flouting rules LAW: Use an animal for experiment for no more than 3 years | At AIIMS: Animals kept in captivity for over 20 yrs. LAW: All animals should be daily observed for illness, injury | At AIIMS: They have injuries, skin diseases, but get no treatment LAW: Provide clean habitat, allowing them to move freely | At AIIMS: Animals kept in cramped cages for days

The video was surreptitiously shot with a mobile phone hanging from the neck.

The Hindustan Times tried to check out the details first hand but its reporter was denied access. Dr Pardeep Yadav, senior veterinary officer at the facility, said permission to enter could only be given by deputy director Dr Sailesh Yadav, who was out of station.

When asked about the ill and dying animals at the facility, he said, “These are lies. All the animals are healthy and are doing well.” video 2

Monkey number 2287 is a 22-year-old female. She is the oldest at the center, coming in when she was only three. A neighbour, Monkey number 2617, is just as old and they each have a two-feet by-two-feet enclosure for home. Both should have been freed many years ago.

Using animals for medical research and testing drugs is permitted.But it is covered by well laid down rules to protect animals from abuse. Video

According to the guidelines laid down by the Committee for Purpose of Control and Supervision on Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, no animal should be used for experimentation for more than three years unless there is adequate justification. But there is none, for holding 2287 and 2617.

The guidelines also say all animals should be observed for signs of illness, injury or abnormal behaviour. And this must be done daily. Animals showing signs of contagious disease must be quickly isolated from the rest. Hindustan Times has been told, with supporting figures, that none of these rules is being enforced at the facility.

And then there is callousness.

A laboratory technician with no special training in animal care told the person who shot the video, "These are small animals. It does not matter if they die."