MADISON, Wis. -- A 19-year-old Salt Lake City man is on a mission to try to shut down eight primate research centers across the country, including the one operating in Madison.

Jeremy Beckham is traveling across the nation trying to educate the public about the cruelty of primate research. Beckham claims when primates live in steel cages all of their lives, it causes them to harm themselves. But researchers disagree, saying there is no maltreatment of these primates.

Experts at the UW Primate Center in Madison say when people see images of cruelty to animals it's important to understand the context of the situation.

"It's not unusual for people who object to animal research to take images out of context," said Madison Research Center Director Joe Kemnitz. "If one were to visit a hospital, you would also see disturbing images from people suffering for natural disease or that may have been in an accident."

But Beckham says answers like those are just propaganda. "I've read old archive articles that document the Wisconsin Research Center lying to the county and reporters. We can't trust anything they say," said Beckham.

The UW Primate Center uses monkeys to test aging, reproduction and for AIDS research.

Beckham is keeping a journal of his journey this summer. You can keep up at Primate Freedom.