In my quest to become a lab animal vet, I've made an effort this summer to gain experiences (within LAM) that I haven't had before through networking. The biggest experience I lack is with non-human primates (NHP) - known to the rest of the world simply as "monkeys."

I'm of the opinion that the general public cares about animals on a spectrum directly correlated with how "human-like" they perceive the specie to be. So while you pretty much never see PETA ads focusing on fish, you've probably all seen plenty of PETA material on chimpanzees or other NHP. Cats, dogs and pigs are usually closer to the NHP end while mice and rats are more toward the fish end of things. And honestly, it makes sense - we as humans have some level of understanding of animals' sentience (their ability to suffer). And so the general public's view seems to be that the more sentient the animal, the more human-like it is and the more likely it is to be suffering in a research setting because we project ourselves into that animal's place.

In my attempt to gain experience this summer, especially in the NHP section of lab animal medicine, I had to look myself in the eye first. As a human, I'm prone to putting myself in the animal's place and thinking it over from that perspective. With primates, it's very easy to do that - they're eerily human-like in their appearance, behavior and mannerisms. They require arguably the most enrichment to even come close to a normal stimulating environment. I wasn't sure how I would feel about seeing creatures like primates housed in comparatively small cages, isolated from their natural group housing dynamics. But I knew I had to try before I could pass judgement.

My time at the university a few weeks ago, and my half-day at an NIH facility today allowed me to gain a better understanding of NHP in research. This particular facility had singly house primates but it also had accommodation for group housing on many levels - the "highest" being a very naturalistic outdoor environment that was, frankly, huge. The people there realize not everything is perfect, but I know that they do their very best to make it as good an environment as they can within the limits of the study. And I think that commitment to doing the best you can with what you have is key. Another benefit of the NHP experiences has been to feed my interest in the behavior and enrichment part of LAM - an interest I developed while working with the lab animals in undergrad. So maybe I have a career focus building?