ACTION ALERT:
Contact the USDA to DEMAND MAXIMUM FINE against EMORY:
Dr. Elizabeth Goldentyer, Director, USDA, Eastern Region
919-855-7100
[email protected]
[email protected]
SAMPLE MESSAGE:
Please levy the MAXIMUM FINE against Emory University for their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act which has killed multiple monkeys. Their behavior should NOT be tolerated and MUST be punished to the fullest extent of the law. The time is NOW to send a clear message with stiff penalties to these incompetent facilities that these behaviors will NOT be tolerated.
Animal Rights Group Alleges Yerkes
Negligence
By Richard Chess,
EmoryWheel.com, October 25, 2016
A monkey died last winter at Emory University’s Yerkes National Primate
Research Center, marking the third primate death at Yerkes after which
animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) has alleged
negligence since December 2014.
In January, a surgical sponge was left inside the rhesus macaque, an Old
World monkey, during an experimental surgery, according to Yerkes Chief of
Public Affairs Lisa Newbern. A Feb. 1 letter, leaked from the research
center informing the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of the
incident, stated that an internal investigation found that the monkey
appeared normal until a day after the surgery, when it began vomiting and
became dehydrated. The surgeon determined a “low likelihood” that a sponge
was left in the body but a decision was made to euthanize the monkey for its
worsening condition, the letter said. An autopsy discovered the sponge
caused an inflammatory response leading to blockage of a portion of the
small intestine, according to the letter.
“The surgeon and the research center regret this death,” Newbern wrote in a
statement to the Wheel. “The research center has implemented additional
processes to prevent any similar occurrence.”
This incident is not the first case of an accidental monkey death at Yerkes.
USDA inspection reports released Sept. 22, 2015 indicate that in 2014, a
deceased monkey was discovered in an enclosure adjacent to its own at
Yerkes. The USDA report revealed that an internal investigation was unable
to determine how the monkey accessed the area. In January 2015, a rubber
band restraint was left on a monkey after a routine tattooing operation, and
the monkey was euthanized two months later after entering respiratory
arrest, the reports said.
As of Oct. 18, 2016, the USDA was an investigating Emory for research animal
handling, according to USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) Public Affairs Specialist Tanya Espinosa. Espinosa declined to
provide further details of the investigation.
The USDA oversees research animal handling and investigates potential
violations of the Animal Cruelty Act in the U.S., according to its website.
In all three cases, Emory notified the USDA of the incidents, as required by
the Animal Cruelty Act, according to Newbern. Procedural changes to prevent
similar incidents from occurring were included in Emory’s letters to the
USDA.
In Emory’s first two disclosure letters to the USDA, Vice President for
Research Administration David Wynes wrote, “This appears to be an isolated
case and not a programmatic issue. While additional suggestions are being
considered to help prevent recurrence, the [Institutional Animal Care and
Use Committee] feels the corrective actions taken will prevent further
occurrences of this nature.”
On Oct. 3, SAEN filed a formal complaint with the USDA, according to (SAEN)
Executive Director Michael Budkie.The complaint states that the three
incidents are violations of the Animal Cruelty Act and calls for the maximum
fine of $10,000 per incident.
“If the incompetence at Emory wasn’t so tragic, it would almost be comical,”
Budkie wrote in a Sept. 25 press release. “Who works at Emory, the Keystone
Cops?”
The research center, which contained more than 2,000 primates as of May
2016, according to USDA inspection reports, stood by its practice of animal
research.
“The groundbreaking discoveries being made at Yerkes would not be possible
without the knowledge and conviction of our researchers and staff who are as
dedicated to scientific discovery in nonhuman primates as they are to the
highest quality animal care and enrichment,” Newbern wrote. “Yerkes follows
established regulations and guidelines and has maintained accreditation for
more than 25 consecutive years.”
See also:
Return to Media Coverage