"New arrivals were carried into the unit in groups of six to eight monkeys in each cage. They were extremely frightened. It was easy to see the panic in their eyes. They desperately held onto each other crying as, one by one, they were forcibly dragged from the cage. Sometimes the struggling was so bad that as the monkeys were pulled out of the cage, the cage door would smash down cutting their tails or hitting a leg.

The whole process was like a production line. First the monkeys were anaesthetised and tattooed on their chest. Next their abdomen was cut open and an optical fibre lens inserted to examine internal organs. No pain relief was given before they were placed in a tiny metal quarantine cage, which was to be their 'home' for the next few weeks. The cages were bare. Slowly the monkeys started to come round from the anaesthetic. They would stumble around and often collapse, falling and knocking their heads on the metal bars. They would awaken to the awful sounds of blaring music and staff shouting. In total shock at this horror, the monkeys would sit motionless and silent in their tiny prison. This had now become their hell.

I found working in the Reproductive Toxicity Unit deeply upsetting. The unit was full of pregnant females and mothers with their infants. The cages were just as barren as those for the other monkeys. The infants were forcibly separated from their mothers on a regular basis to be weighed and for blood to be taken. The mothers would desperately try to protect their young, crying out and smashing themselves against the cage walls. It was really difficult to watch the desperation in the mothers' eyes as they fought the inevitable. Two technicians would literally pull the mother and baby apart by pulling on their tails and arms.

Every day hundreds of monkeys were dosed with test substances. On one occasion I watched as the other technicians stood around joking, laughing and talking to the researchers during the dosing of one monkey after another. Music was blaring in the background. One monkey resisted and the technician became aggressive and began shaking the monkey who started crying out. The researcher had problems trying to force the tube down his throat. She was chatting to the animal technicians and moving to the music. The technician holding the monkey began moving the animal to the rhythm on the radio. The researcher eventually got the tube into the animal and pumped the test substance into his stomach. The monkey appeared to go into a state of shock and stopped struggling. Only his eyes betrayed the panic and fear. After the dosing, the technician holding the monkey by just one arm, literally threw him back into his cage allowing the door to smash down behind him."