USDA warns Penn State College of Medicine after research monkey dies
Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!
S. A. E. N.
Media Coverage
"Exposing the truth to wipe out animal experimentation"
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/06/usda_warns_penn_state_college.html
USDA warns Penn State College of Medicine after research monkey dies
By Diana Fishlock, The Patriot-News, Friday, June 29, 2012
An animal rights organization is calling for a more severe penalty
after a monkey used in an experiment died at Penn State College of
Medicine.
The Ohio-based Stop Animal Exploitation Now said the federal U.S.
Department of Agriculture was too lenient when it sent Penn State a
warning on May 1. The warning was released to the public this week.
A macaque being used in Parkinson’s disease research allegedly died Dec.
24, 2010, from incorrect care provided by an improperly trained research
assistant, said David Sacks, a spokesman for the Animal and Plant
Inspection Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Neither the USDA nor the college would provide specifics Friday on how
or why the animal died.
The medical school reported the monkey’s death to the USDA, Sacks said.
SAEN Executive Director Michael A. Budkie said: “At the very
least, Penn State should have been fined for killing a macaque monkey.
This official warning is nothing more than a slap on the wrist and
effectively tells ... labs that they will not be penalized even when
their negligence kills an animal.”
A facility that shows a pattern of negligence is more likely to receive
penalties, Sacks said.
Penn State Hershey spokeswoman Megan Walde Manlove said the unexpected
death of the monkey prompted an immediate halt to the project and an
internal investigation. Penn State implemented USDA-required
corrections.
Manlove also said the college studied the primate research program and
determined it was not feasible to continue making the investment of
resources and infrastructure to maintain it. The program has been
discontinued.
“The College of Medicine maintains a strong commitment to treating
research animals in a humane and ethical way to the benefit of humans
and animals in the treatment and cure of disease,” Manlove said.
She noted the school’s status as a laboratory that has been voluntarily
accredited by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of
Laboratory Animal Care. The association holds organizations to higher
standards than those required by federal law.
Federal inspectors in March 2011 found violations, including that a
monkey being used in a Penn State experiment had died in December 2010.
See also:
Return to Media Coverage