Exposing the truth to wipe out animal experimentation
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY
Media Coverage About SAEN Stop Animal Exploitation Now
ACTION ALERT:
Contact:
Richard Feldman, President
University of Rochester
[email protected]
President Feldman,
University of Rochester negligence has killed and/or abused approximately 100 animals through, starvation./dehydration, failure to provide adequate pain relief, etc. University of Rochester lab staff have also admitted falsifying records. This malfeasance must not be tolerated. You must launch an internal investigation of all University of Rochester animal experimenttaion and terminate all responsible lab staff.
University of Rochester accused of animal abuse; school calls it sensationalism
By Virginia Butler,
DemocratAndChronicle.com, May 3, 2018
An Ohio-based watchdog group has accused the University of Rochester of
killing or mistreating dozens of animals in University of Rochester Medical
Center labs.
Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN), a nonprofit group that monitors U.S.
research facilities for animal abuse and violations of laws, on Thursday
claimed it has uncovered animal deaths, animal abuse and research
malfeasance, which may have involved more than 100 animals. The group also
alleges that the university attempted to cover up the incidents, which
reportedly occurred in 2016 and 2017.
While University of Rochester Medical Center did not deny the errors,
university officials accused SAEN of sensationalizing the mishaps with lab
mice without acknowledging safeguards added to ensure such errors would not
be repeated.
The animal welfare group claimed that they learned of the animal deaths
through internal correspondence at the university. It was not revealed where
at the university the alleged incidents occurred.
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Those communications detailed several incidents, including the Nov. 15
discovery of living animals in UR's "morgue cooler/freezer" and the death of
numerous animals via starvation and dehydration, SAEN alleges.
The group also alleges that UR employees failed to provide "adequate
post-surgical pain relief to about 80 animals," according to a news release.
Internal correspondence at UR dated March 2017 discussed "a serious issue of
non-compliance" of "not following analgesic therapy in the approved
protocol," and then falsifying records on what was given to the animals.
One year earlier, in March 2016, more internal correspondence outlined how
an influenza virus was given to mice without providing a required two-week
notice, possibly exposing staff and other animals, SAEN alleges.
A URMC spokesman said the documents on which the SAEN release is based show
that all of the involved animals are mice, and that 80 of those mice
received an improper dose of medication that did not cause them harm. The
university openly reported all of the errors and acknowledged that 10 mice
were improperly treated.
"The SAEN news release refers to three occasions in 2016 and 2017 when we
discovered that some mice had mistakenly been mistreated, errors which are
as unacceptable to our researchers as they are to anybody," University of
Rochester Medical Center spokesman Chip Partner said in a printed statement.
"Research teams immediately cared for the affected animals, notified the
committee and developed corrective action plans that were reviewed and
approved by the government agency that oversees animal research."
Partner said the university and its researchers are dedicated to treating
animals "safely and humanely in the studies that research institutions like
ours must conduct to find new treatments and cures for diseases that afflict
all of us."
More than 25 years ago, URMC voluntarily established a committee of
community representatives, veterinarians and scientists to monitor research
and ensure the safety of animals and laboratory staff.
"While sensationalizing our self-reported errors in publicly available
reports, SAEN failed to disclose the accompanying documentation of measures
we had already taken to address the mistakes and prevent them from happening
again," Partner said.
Michael Budkie, SAEN's executive director, said the discovery was "shocking"
and asked the university for an independent investigation on the matter and
to fire employees responsible for the alleged abuse.
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