Paul McCartney : sa lettre à Janet Napolitano

Il y a quelques jours de cela, nous vous rapportions dans notre rubrique « Actualité », que Paul McCartney avait adressé une lettre au gouverneur de l’Etat d’Arizona, afin de lui faire part de son mécontentement quant à l’implantation à proximité de son ranch, d’un laboratoire pharmaceutique menant des expérimentations sur des singes.
Nous vous proposons de découvrir ci-dessous la lettre adressée par Paul :

{The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Governor of Arizona
1700 W. Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Dear Governor Napolitano:
Arizona has a special place in my heart. It is where Linda loved to ride and its where she lived her last days on our ranch. Linda was a champion for animals so it is for her and for all of us who want o protect animals from harm that I am writing to ask you not to let Covance, an animal testing laboratory, to set up shop in Chandler.
There is growing citizen opposition to Covance for two reasons, cruelty to animals and public health concerns.
Covance operated under the name Hazelton Research Products when its laboratory in Vienna, Virginia imported hundreds of monkeys who were found to be infected with the deadly Ebola virus. The U.S. military had to enter Covance in full biohazard gear to kill all the monkeys. The value of the land surrounding Covance’s laboratory was reduced from millions of dollars to worthless and Covance had to raze the building and give away the land under it.
During a recent undercover investigation into Covance’s Vienna, Virginia laboratory where almost 1,000 primates are kept in tiny, barren metal cages, PETA videotaped Covance staff striking, choking, and tormenting the terrified animals (see covancecruelty.com). Primates in labs are in constant fear – they have no place to hide and studies have shown that their heart and pulse rates rise dramatically each time the door opens, before anyone toucheds them, because of their anticipation of what will happen next.
Two agencies of the U.S. government – both the FDA and the USDA – are now investigating Covance. In June, 2005, a British judge, ruling that PETA had the right to show videotaped abuse inside Covance facilities, characterized the video as « highly disturbing. » He also commented on the « rough manner in which the animals [are] handled and the bleakness of the surroundings in which they are kept, » matters which, he said, « cry out for explanation. »
The community of Alameda, California successfully kept Covance from building there. I most respectfully request your assistance for the compassionate citizens of Chandler in their quest to do the same.
Yours truly,
Paul McCartney}