Unnecessary Fuss - PETA

Unnecessary Fuss is a film produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), showing footage shot inside the University of Pennsylvania’s Head Injury Clinic in Philadelphia. The raw footage was recorded by the laboratory researchers as they inflicted brain damage to baboons using a hydraulic device. The experiments were conducted as part of a research project into head injuries such as is caused in vehicle accidents. Sixty hours of audio and video tapes were stolen from the laboratory on May 28, 1984, by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), described in their press release as the “Watergate tapes of the animal rights movement“.[1] ALF handed the tapes over to PETA. The footage was edited down to 26 minutes by Alex Pacheco and narrated by Ingrid Newkirk, then distributed to the media and Congress. Charles McCarthy, director of the Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR), wrote that the film had “grossly overstated the deficiencies in the Head Injury Clinic“, but that the OPRR had found serious violations of the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.[2] Due to the publicity and the results of several investigations and reports, the lab was closed. The title of the film comes from a statement made to The Globe and Mail by the head of the clinic, neurosurgeon Thomas Gennarelli, before the raid. He declined to describe his research to the newspaper because, he said, it had “the potential to stir up all sorts of unnecessary fuss.“ 26-minute excerpt from films made by the researchers themselves at Dr. Genarelli’s head injury laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. The tapes were secretly taken by members of the Animal Liberation Front and brought to the attention of the press and Congress, which led to the closing of the lab. The film shows painful experiments: baboons strapped on a table have crashing blows administered to their heads, while scientists smoke and listen to music. These experiments had been conducted for 15 years at the expense of 12 Million dollars, funded by the tax payer. Directors Ingrid Newkirk Alex Pacheco Star Ingrid Newkirk Taglines University of Pennsylvania’s Head Injury Clinic in Philadelphia Genres DocumentaryShort Details Country of origin United States Official site Official site Language English Filming locations University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Production company PETA