ACTION ALERT:
Contact:
Dr. Elizabeth Goldentyer
Director, USDA, Eastern Region
(919) 855-7100
[email protected]
[email protected]
SAMPLE MESSAGE:
Please LEVY a MAXIMUM FINE against this repeat violator, Wake Forest University, for their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) when their negligence killed a rabbit and injured multiple primates. This repeat offender's behavior must NOT be tolerated and MUST be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
animal research facility cited by federal agency over injured primates, dead
rabbit
By Richad Craver,
Winston-Salem Journal, May 10, 2017
A U.S. Agriculture Department report on Wake Forest Baptist Medical
Center’s animal research program, submitted March 15, determined two
non-compatible primates injured themselves from fighting after being
incorrectly placed in the same cage.
The same citation from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
found that a monkey was injured by other monkeys in an outdoor setting while
pens were being cleaned, and that a rabbit was euthanized after it suffered
a broken rear leg while being taken from its enclosure.
The routine inspection report was made public Tuesday by Stop Animal
Exploitation NOW, or SAEN, a national research watchdog organization.
The July incident involving the monkey fight led to both monkeys receiving
serious wounds. Each made a full recovery after several weeks of veterinary
care, according to the report.
“Improper pairing of animals can lead to serious injury to animals,”
according to the report.
The December incident involving the outdoor enclosure required surgery for
the injured monkey, which made a full recovery.
The May 2016 incident involving the rabbit occurred as it resisted being
removed from its cage.
The department said each incident was investigated and the center
“implemented appropriate corrective actions.”
SAEN submitted a letter to the department April 25 in which it requested the
center be fined the maximum $10,000 for each incident.
There was no fine listed in the Agriculture Department’s report.
The center provided a statement Wednesday in which it said the three events
“were appropriately self-reported” and that the Wake Forest Institutional
Animal Care and Use Committee investigated and “immediately implemented
appropriate resolution plans to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
The center said the department’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare “fully
accepted” the corrective actions taken by the center.
For example, with the outdoors incident, the center said “to prevent
similar incidents in the future, the practice to have the doors to two pens
open at the same time has been changed.”
“Animal studies are a vital part of research that advances both human and
animal health,” the center said. “The medical center takes animal welfare
very seriously and is committed to the humane and responsible care of
animals used in research. The loss of, or injury to, any animal is
regrettable and genuinely impacts our animal research program staff.”
In May 2016, the department issued four citations against the center during
a routine inspection conducted in April 2016.
In December 2012, Wake Forest Baptist was fined $35,464 by the department
for violations of the Animal Welfare Act in connection with the center’s
animal research procedures. The center paid the fine.
One of those events was the escape of a female monkey from a research center
near Clemmons in late June 2012. The monkey roamed parts of southern Forsyth
and northern Davidson counties for 11 days. It was recovered unharmed.
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