ACTION ALERT:
Contact:
Dr. Robert Gibbens
SAMPLE MESSAGE:
Please levy the MAXIMUM FINE against Oregon State University for their
blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act when their negligence killed two
cows and five sheep. Their behavior should NOT be tolerated and MUST be
punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Animal Rights Group Files Complaint Against OSU
From
USNews.com, March 30, 2019
CORVALLIS, ORE. (AP) — An Ohio-based animal
rights group has filed a complaint against Oregon State University with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture over seven animal deaths.
The Corvallis Gazette-Times reports Stop Animal Exploitation Now! filed the
complaint in late March contending the university violated the federal
Animal Welfare Act in the deaths of two cows, four lambs and one ewe used in
teaching or research between February 2017 and September 2018.
University officials dispute the claims, saying the university takes good
care of its animals and has done nothing wrong.
The complaint contends university employees failed to properly care for a
dairy cow with mastitis, failed to prevent the death of another cow that
choked in a headlock at the dairy barn, failed to properly protect four
lambs that were killed by predators and failed to provide adequate medical
care to a ewe that died following surgery.
"To us, it demonstrates that they are violating federal law. These kinds of
deaths simply should not have happened," said Michael Budkie, executive
director of the animal rights group.
OSU Vice President Steve Clark says the university is in compliance with the
Animal Welfare Act and the deaths represent unforeseen impacts to a tiny
fraction of the more than 12,000 animals Oregon State keeps for research and
teaching purposes.
He said Oregon State oversees the care and treatment of animals through its
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and an attending veterinarian.
"OSU conducts hundreds of research and teaching activities annually. In this
work, we care for thousands of animals, birds, amphibians and reptiles, and
millions of fish," he wrote in an email to the newspaper.
A USDA spokesman acknowledged that the agency was reviewing a complaint
filed against Oregon State by the rights group but declined to say whether
an investigation had been opened.
The rights group filed a separate complaint against Oregon State University
in January, asking the USDA to fine the university over five surgeries on
sheep in 2017 that violated rules governing animal experimentation.
None of the surgeries resulted in the death of an animal, and the university
self-reported the incidents to USDA.