ACTION ALERT:
Contact:
Dr. Robert Gibbens
Director, Animal Welfare Operations, USDA-APHIS
[email protected]
[email protected]
Please levy the MAXIMUM FINE against University of Utah for their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act when their negligence caused multiple monkey deaths. Their behavior should NOT be tolerated and MUST be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
University of Utah under fire from animal rights group over monkey deaths
From Sara Tabin, Salt Lake City Tribune, March 20, 2021
SDA inspection reports said animals overheated in cages and others died after botched surgeries.
The University of Utah is under fire from an animal rights group over
United States Department of Agriculture inspection reports that say
laboratory monkeys died of “overheating and distress” in their cages and
after surgical procedures.
Michael Budkie, the head of Ohio-based animal welfare nonprofit Stop Animal
Exploitation Now, which advocates against animal experiments, called
inspection reports issued to the University of Utah disturbing. He said the
SAEN found out about the report because the group routinely files records
requests with different government agencies to obtain documents about animal
testing facilities.
The University of Utah received two critical citations from the USDA in one
report issued in October 2020. The critical citations occurred during a
“focused inspection,” which is an inspection that occurs after a complaint
or allegation of a problem, as opposed to a routine inspection.
One was for the deaths of marmoset monkeys that became trapped in their nest
box within their cage in August. The door closed and they were stuck for 18
hours, dying of overheating and distress. The USDA said primate enclosures
must be made so they protect animals from harm.
The university also received a critical citation for the deaths of two
monkeys after surgical procedures. One of those surgeries was in September
2019, when a catheter insertion was attempted several times in a male monkey
before it was successful. The result was bruising around the monkey’s thigh
and at the catheter site. The monkey’s left rear leg was swollen after the
surgery and he was dragging it. The next morning the monkey was found dead
from clots deep in his veins. Another monkey died in January 2020 because of
trauma from being intubated during a surgery.
“The level of negligence that allowed animals to die from botched medical
procedures or being trapped in part of their enclosure, those things are
just shocking and should never happen,” Budkie said.
The USDA report also noted that eight rabbits at the university underwent a
surgery that was not approved beforehand by the Institutional Animal Care
and Use Committee (IACUC).
Dr. Andy Weyrich, the U.’s vice president for research, said in a statement
that the university self-reports problems to the IACUC as soon as they occur
and to federal agencies when appropriate. He pointed out that the university
had implemented corrective actions before the USDA’s inspection, and those
corrections were accepted by the USDA.
“As a major research institution, the University of Utah is dedicated to
advancing science and medicine to improve the health of people, pets and
livestock,” he said in the statement. “Some of the most important work to
improve health and well-being involves animal research. The University of
Utah is committed to the safe and humane treatment of our research animals,
but unfortunate incidents do occur – albeit infrequently. We are committed
to transparency and to addressing these situations with swift and immediate
actions so that we can prevent future incidents from occurring.”
The monkeys that died were being used for research to cure eye diseases and
improve vision, according to spokeswoman Kathy Wilets.
This isn’t the first time that SAEN has targeted the University of Utah for
alleged animal mistreatment. The group has also accused the university of
negligence over animal deaths in 2015, after a monkey was burned by a heater
and died, and in 2017.