SUSAN VOYLES
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 3/2/2008
Modified: 3/2/2008
Two monkeys whose fingers were squashed and amputated at a Sparks
laboratory are among 20 violations that a national animal rights group
cited in seeking a larger fine against Charles River Laboratories.
Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) based in Cincinnati said the 20
violations in 2006 and 11 in the first half of 2007 were reported by the
company to federal officials and obtained through the U.S. Freedom of
Information Act.
At the Charles Rivers animal research lab in Sparks, the fingers of two
monkeys were caught in the wiring of their cages and a dolly while being
moved. The tip of the tail of a third monkey was cut and was treated.
The incidents occurred Nov. 29, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2006.
Amy Cianciaruso, Charles River spokeswoman in Wilmington, Mass., said
the company immediately changed procedures to minimize the chance of a
recurrence of the injuries and staff were trained on the new procedures.
She said federal inspectors found the changes to be appropriate.
Michael A. Budkie, SAEN executive director, said the monkey incidents
and untreated skin lesions on several rabbits in a Charles River
laboratory in Pennsylvania were the most disturbing. Other violations
dealt with veterinary care, feeding, housing and sanitation at
facilities other than the one in Sparks.
The violations occurred after Charles River was sent a warning letter by
Elizabeth Goldentyer, eastern regional director for the U.S. Department
of Agriculture animal care division in 2005.
Budkie last month asked the USDA to impose the largest fine possible,
$3,750 per violation, allowed under the Animal Welfare Act to get the
company�s attention.
�When your staff is so incompetent they can�t move animals without
causing amputation of their fingers, serious action needs to be taken,�
he said.
Cianciaruso said that, because the incidents were reported by the
company and immediately dealt with, the company does not consider them
violations.
�Charles River has a deep commitment to animal welfare, and we make
every effort to exceed all national standards for the care of research
models (animals) under our stewardship,� Cianciaruso said.
Charles River Laboratories has done animal research to test and develop
drugs since 1947, with about 8,000 employees at 101 facilities, offices
and laboratories in 17 countries.
As a testament to the company�s work, she said, it recently received an
$111.6 million, 10-year contract from the National Cancer Institute to
conduct research at its laboratory in Maryland.
Charles River has operated a facility on Dunne Circle in the Sparks
industrial area for 15 years. During the winter, it opened a second
laboratory, one of the largest in the country, at 6995 Longley Lane in
Reno.
The company told the Reno Gazette-Journal last October that the Sparks
facility would be closed after the new one in Reno was operational. But
Cianciaruso said the company plans to keep in use a �significant
portion� of the Sparks facility.
Eventually, the company plans to employ 900 workers at the Reno lab
while keeping �an appropriate number� at the Sparks facility,
Cianciaruso said. The company employed 400 workers in Sparks before
moving some of them to Reno.
At the Reno lab, officials said, the company will test new drugs for
side effects. The initial research to see if the drug is effective is
done elsewhere. The Reno lab is rated as a Biosafety Level 2 facility,
the same rating for hospitals.
Coral Amende of the Rescue Connection group in Incline Village has
reviewed the blueprints for the Reno lab and counts cages for 980
monkeys and 871 dogs. Given the size of the operation, she had been
lobbying for local inspectors and is now considering lobbying for state
inspectors.
�We have been completely stonewalled by every source,� she said of her
initial efforts. �It�s imperative they not be allowed to keep doing what
they�re doing behind closed doors. Animal welfare is not No. 1 on their
list. Making money is No. 1.�
With 450,000 square feet in Reno, Cianciaruso said large studies can be
accommodated. She said the number of monkeys, dogs or rodents would
depend on lab research contracts under negotiation.
�We can�t look into the future and comment as precisely as you would
like regarding how many primates and rodents the lab might potentially
hold, but we can say that we are a large lab. As a result, we can host
large studies,� Cianciaruso said.
She said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires drugs to be
tested in two species, one rodent and one non-rodent, before human
trials can begin.
For the Reno lab, Cianciaruso said the company has made �a significant
investment� in new caging, which will eliminate recurrence of the
monkey-moving incidents.
Last September, Greg Beattie, executive director for the Sparks
operation, told the Gazette-Journal the company would greatly reduce
research involving macaque monkeys in the Reno facility. He said most of
the research in Reno would involve rodents and a small percentage of dogs
and monkeys.
In Sparks, he said the monkeys made up the �vast majority� of the
research.
Beattie also said USDA inspectors found only housekeeping issues at the
Sparks facility and had never been cited for animal welfare issues.
Charles River Laboratories has been in business of doing animal research
in testing and developing drugs since 1947. It has 101 production
facilities, offices and laboratories in 17 countries and employs about
8,000 people worldwide.
Charles
River Laboratories - Wilmington, MA
Charles River
Laboratories - Sparks, NV
