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Dr. Robert Gibbens Director, Western Region, USDAUC Davis Admits in Federal Documents Responsibility for
Negligent Killing of Baby Monkeys
From Crescenzo Vellucci,
DavisVanguard.org, June 18, 2019
A national watchdog group has charged that the University of California
at Davis – which has long been the target of animal rights groups –
negligently killed seven infant monkeys at the California Primate Research
Center, and may be covering up exactly what happened.
UCD has admitted to the deaths of the monkeys, which occurred around
March/April 2018, in federal documents, and has blamed the deaths on a dye
used to mark the baby monkeys.
The dye used was relatively new, said UCD, and was placed on the back of the
infants in the research facility, as had been done for years. However,
placing the die “prematurely” could expose the baby monkeys to the dye in
the face, nose and mouth areas – the dye was found near the nipples of the
sedated female monkey.
The infants, according to UCD in documents sent to the government, died
after severe edema, swelling of larynx and tongue, respiratory distress and
other causes. Most of the infants were found dead or euthanized.
“The infant deaths are being passed off as an allergic reaction to dye
placed on their mothers, but this could be a smoke screen and cover-up,”
charged SAEN (Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!), a national, non-governmental
watchdog that monitors U.S. research facilities for illegal behavior and
animal abuse.
SAEN said UCD’s negligence was a violation of federal law.
UCD has negligently killed research subjects in the past, said SAEN,
pointing to a “significant” fine for mistreating animals in 2018.
Michael Budkie, executive director of SAEN, said at least one infant may
have died, not necessarily because of the ingestion of the toxic dye, but of
sepsis, an infection. He said there was nothing in the records
provided by UCD that noted UCD tried to treat the sepsis before the monkey
died or was euthanized. Another baby, said SAEN, was listed with “severe
bronchopneumonia with bacteria.”
These deaths likely had nothing to do with the dye, said SAEN, suggesting
the death of two of the infants “just happened to be discovered at the same
time as the dye deaths.
“Essentially, this is a matter of UC Davis treating these monkeys, who are
very much like humans, as though they were nothing more than inanimate
objects, part of the inventory to be labeled, tattooed and ignored.
“The failure to provide veterinary care to two of these infant monkeys,
which likely led to their demise, was inexcusable. But UC Davis is probably
more concerned about the negative publicity this will bring, and the lost
revenue from the dead monkeys, than the unnecessary suffering and deaths of
these animals,” said Budkie, a longtime critic of the national primate
research centers.
“It seems to me that UC Davis is attempting a cover-up,” said Budkie in his
complaint to the U.S. Dept of Agriculture. He’s asking the USDA to fine UCD
$110,000.
“The records indicate that five of the infant monkeys likely had an
anaphylactic reaction. But the other two had severe infections. Things like
this do not develop overnight. UC Davis clearly failed to provide adequate
veterinary care and their negligence in that regard killed two of these
infants,” added Budkie in his complaint to the USDA’s regional office in Ft.
Collins, CO.
The complaint said UCD has “racked up” six new citations since July of 2016,
including “three critical citations,” including a “repeat critical citation
for the death of a guinea pig.”
UCD “self-reported” that on February 27, 2018, a “staff member mistakenly
removed a section of a guinea pig enclosure resulting in one guinea pig
falling out of the enclosure to the floor. The enclosure was on the top row
of a rack, approximately five feet from the floor. The animal died shortly
after falling,” said Budkie.
He also noted critical citations in numerous instances, including the 2017
death of an anesthetized rabbit after a technician turned a valve in the
wrong direction and the subject was injected with air.
“I must insist that your office immediately open a full investigation of
this incident…and at the completion of your probe, levy the maximum fine
allowable under the Animal Welfare Act of $10,000 per infraction/per animal.
This should result in a penalty of $110,000.
“It is clear that the previously issue of a $5000 fine which was levied
against UC Davis, is essentially being ignored. This is not surprising,
because UC Davis has been allowed to violate the law with virtual impunity
for years,” said Budkie in the strongly-worded complaint to the USDA.
“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.
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,” he added.
UCD, said Budkie, recently paid $5,000 to settle another “critical” citation
from a 2016 incident in the death of a rabbit. The latest deaths follow
previous deaths of a rabbit and a guinea pig, and injuries to two primates,
according to a SAEN press statement.