ACTION ALERT:
Contact:
Dr. Robert Gibbens Director, Western Region, USDA
Allegations That UC Davis Negligence
Kills Two More Animals
From
DavisVanguard.org, September 4, 2018
The University of California at Davis – which recently paid a significant
federal fine for mistreating animals and is now most criminal university
connected to the national primate centers – has negligently killed at least
two other animals and repeatedly violated federal law, according to a
national research watchdog group.
Government records show that, since Feb 2016, UC Davis has had more federal
Animal Welfare Act violations than any of the other laboratories connected
to the six remaining national primate research centers
UC Davis recently announced payment of a $5,000 federal fine for a
“CRITICAL” citation issued in a 2016 U.S. Dept. of Agriculture inspection
for the death of a rabbit, noted SAEN, an Ohio-based nonprofit that monitors
U.S. research facilities for violations of law and animal abuse.
Now, SAEN said it has uncovered two new federal reports which reveal new
“REPEAT CRITICAL” citations issued by the USDA, both of which were connected
to animal deaths.
An April 17, 2018 inspection contains a “REPEAT CRITICAL” citation for the
death of a guinea pig who was killed after a five-foot fall caused by a UC
Davis lab worker who, according to the violation, “mistakenly removed a
section of a guinea pig enclosure resulting in one guinea pig falling out of
the enclosure to the floor.”
And a Feb. 7, 2018 inspection listed another “REPEAT CRITICAL” citation for
a July 27, 2017 incident: “an anesthetized rabbit on a study protocol was to
be injected with a contrast medium. Following injection, the rabbit
immediately died. The technician realized that the stop-cock valve used for
the procedure had been turned in the wrong direction, the contrast medium
had drained from the extension tubing, and air had been injected instead.”
This incident is very similar to a previous citation which drew the $5,000
fine, noted SAEN.
“It is eminently clear that the University of California, Davis believes
that it is above the law, and routinely flaunts the authority of the USDA,”
said SAEN co-founder and executive director Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T. in a
complaint filed with the USDA. ” It is time for your office to take
meaningful action against this lawbreaking lab to show the administration
that any further animal deaths will simply not be tolerated.”
SAEN’s Complaint calls for the maximum federal penalty, $10,000 per
infraction/per animal.
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