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Complaints filed against ABQ lab after deaths
From Scott Turner, AlbuquerqueJournal.com, January 6, 2020
Two animal advocacy groups have filed complaints with federal agencies
against Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque following the
deaths of two monkeys used for testing.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking the National
Institutes of Health to withdraw its approval for the Public Health Service
Animal Welfare Assurance granted to Lovelace, which would mean it couldn’t
receive federal contracts or federal grants. Stop Animal Exploitation Now,
an Ohio-based national watchdog nonprofit that investigates animal abuse,
has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeking an
investigation and prosecution of the lab, which it contends “has a four-year
history of federal law-breaking that has killed/sickened/injured dozens of
animals.”
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, which is not connected to Lovelace
Health System, did not respond to Journal requests for comment on Friday.
The complaints cite a Nov. 19 USDA inspection that details the deaths of two
2½-year-old male cynomolgus macaque monkeys. One died unexpectedly during a
face-mask inhalation procedure. A veterinary technician examined the monkey,
but was unable to resuscitate him. A full necropsy was not conducted in
violation of the study protocol, PETA Special Projects Manager Magnolia
Martínez wrote in a letter to Patricia Brown, director of NIH’s Office of
Laboratory Animal Welfare.
Another was found dead in the cage where he was held with five other male
monkeys. Records for the monkey failed to note that the monkeys that were
caged together were not compatible, Martínez said.
According to the necropsy report, the monkey “was found to have marked
dehydration, little to no visceral fat, and an overall thin body condition.”
The USDA report suggests the monkey may not have been allowed access to food
or water, she said.
The macaque that died during the face-mask inhalation procedure had not been
properly monitored, Martínez wrote. The arm restraints on the chairs where
the animals were held were too large for some of the animals – allowing them
to become entangled in the equipment, she wrote.
“LRRI appears to have suffocated one monkey and starved another. These are
only the latest of the negligent serial deaths,” said Michael A. Budkie, a
co-founder of Stop Animal Exploitation Now. “The staff of this facility are
overworked and unqualified. It is a wonder that even more deaths haven’t
occurred.”
Both organizations claim violations at Lovelace date back years. Among the
instances cited include an Aug. 14, 2019, USDA inspection that found an
experimenter administered a dose of a test compound to 12 monkeys without
first securing the approval of the Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee and a June 19, 2018, USDA inspection that revealed that an
experimenter deviated from the protocol that had been approved by the IACUC
for a study in which six primates were killed.
“Federal reports document a pattern of carelessness and disregard for basic
safety conditions for the animals confined in LRRI’s laboratories. U.S.
Department of Agriculture inspections and self-reports indicate that animals
have been under the ‘supervision’ of untrained and oblivious staff whose
actions and omissions have resulted in profound animal suffering and
numerous animal deaths,” PETA’s letter said.
In 2011, Lovelace was cited by the USDA for six violations of the Animal
Welfare Act – including the strangulation death of a monkey who became
caught on an experimental jacket and the escape of an infant monkey – and
fined $21,750.