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Dr. Robert Gibbens Director, Western Region, USDAComplaint alleges Hercules laboratory abused animals
From Steve Rubenstein, SFChronicle.com, January 3, 2019A laboratory rabbit that hopped off an examination table and broke a rear
leg is at the center of an animal abuse complaint filed against a Hercules
laboratory.
Pacific BioLabs was also accused of killing a guinea pig, chemically burning
a dog and allowing another rabbit to break its front leg.
The complaint, filed in December with the U.S. Department of Agriculture by
the Ohio group Stop Animal Experimentation Now, cites USDA inspections over
the past three years that reported the incidents at the lab.
“The USDA must levy the largest fine allowable,” said Michael Budkie,
executive director of SAEN. “These careless violations are nothing short of
shocking.’’
The laboratory and the USDA did not respond to requests for comment.
The first rabbit broke his leg in a fall in July. Two months earlier, the
second rabbit broke its leg by having it caught in a drain. The USDA advised
the lab to “handle all animals as carefully as possible.”
The complaint also cites USDA inspection reports that said the lab caused
chemical burns to a dog in 2015 by mishandling a disinfectant, and failed to
provide proper veterinary care for two wounds to guinea pigs in 2016 caused
by experimental injections.
In the case of the burned dog, laboratory officials retrained the employee
who mishandled the disinfectant and arranged to have the dog, who recovered
from its injuries, adopted as a pet, the USDA said.
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