Arluke, A. B. 1993. Trapped in a guilt cage. Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) Newsletter 4(2), 1-2 & 7-8.

Scientists, veterinarians, and administrators tended to deny that laboratory workers could be troubled by their use of animals. Uneasiness was not seen as an issue, and was not allowed to intrude on the normal course of work. .. New workers believed they were not supposed to talk about their feelings to anyone. Feelings remained private, extraneous to the real work of the laboratory. .. many researchers learned not to make laboratory animals into pets long before starting their first full-time research positions. Instead, animals were transformed into data or silent research collaborators. Lack of direct contact with the animals reinforced the transformation. Researchers, typically, did not routinely conduct experiments and handle animals; they stopped by their laboratories for a brief visit during the day or occasionally performed delicate surgery on animals after they were fully anesthetized. .. Technicians and caretakers found it harder to treat animals as objects because they commonly lacked prior research experience and had frequent and direct contact with the animals. They would learn not to treat them as pets after being shocked by the death of a special animal that they regarded as a friend or partner. While people tried to detach themselves from the animals, they rarely succeeded completely. .. While most people accepted this detachment as necessary self-protection, not everyone found it comfortable. One technician, for instance, told me that it didn't feel right stop playing with the primates in her laboratory. But those did bond closely to laboratory animals were often reminded and even teased about the dangers.