Play ‘Monkey Fright’ and Help Get NIH’s Terror Laboratory Shut Down

Posted by Bridget on October 10, 2024

National Institutes of Health (NIH) experimenter Elisabeth Murray has spent the last 30 years cutting open monkeys’ skulls, suctioning out or burning portions of their brains to cause permanent damage, and locking them in cages, where she shows them large rubber snakes and spiders, terrifying them. These horrific experiments haven’t advanced human health at all, of course—they’ve only tormented and killed animals and wasted precious medical resources.

This cruelty is why 17-year-old Archit Kumar of Dublin, California, is on a mission to end speciesism, and he’s developed a video game called Monkey Fright to help accomplish that. The game brings awareness to the constant suffering and deprivation that these monkeys experience inside small, barren cages in windowless laboratories—day in and day out—where they’re denied companionship, sunshine, fresh air, exercise, and everything else they care about.

If Archit could tell Elisabeth Murray one thing, it would be that it’s not too late for her to change. We can all change—anyone still buying products tested on animals can stop immediately, and we can encourage our friends and family members to shop cruelty-free.

“The most important step that teens can take to shape a better future for humans and animals alike is to become more aware of the choices they make,” Archit says. When it comes to cruelty to animals and environmental destruction, “becoming aware of the problem is the first step to solving it.”

I contacted PETA in the midst of their battle against monkey cruelty at [NIH]. The news about the NIH’s monkey fright experiments is truly loathsome, and I hope that my video game will deliver a profound message to cruel laboratories around the world.

Archit wants other young people to know how crucial it is  to work together to dismantle speciesism, saying “Although teenagers are filled with many social and academic pressures, I urge teens to find a greater purpose in the world around them and to educate themselves about issues that they can take a stance on.”

Make friendly choices even when nobody is around, and do your best to avoid peer pressure that may lead you to compromise your moral standards about animals and nature.

That’s why peta2 exists, and together, we’re making the world a kinder place for animals. Let’s send cruel laboratories around the world the message that we won’t tolerate animal abuse: