ACTION ALERT:
Contact:
Dr. Robert Gibbens
Director, Animal Welfare Operations, USDA-APHIS
[email protected]
[email protected]
Please levy the MAXIMUM FINE against University of Montana for their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act which allowed a rabbit to escape from an enclosure. Their behavior should NOT be tolerated and MUST be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
University of Montana research lab criticized for
missing hare
From
Skylar Rispens, MtStandard.com, June 1, 2021
An animal rights advocacy group is criticizing the University of
Montana's Mills Lab for losing a snowshoe hare late last year.
Stop Animal Exploitation Now! — an Ohio-based group —has filed an official
complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, claiming that the
university violated two sections of the Animal Welfare Act and should be
fined $10,000 per infraction.
In April, the USDA filed an inspection report stating that the snowshoe hare
had not been seen during daily observations at a university research
enclosureon Dec. 26. After a five-day search without spotting the hare, it
was determined that it likely escaped when a caretaker entered the area
carrying items that obscured their line of sight. The hare had not been
recovered at the time of the report.
The inspection report recommended the facility install an additional barrier
at the entrance to the housing area to ensure the animals are contained. The
university had until May 22 to make the recommended changes.
UM was never formally cited or fined for the findings in the inspection
report and secured the enclosure, according to university spokesman Dave
Kuntz. The USDA's report against the university is now closed.
The university’s captive snowshoe hare facility studies how wildlife adapt
to climate change. A snowshoe hare's white fur turns brown in the summer as
camouflage. However, as global temperatures rise, the snowpack in their
habitat depletes before their fur transitions, leaving the hares vulnerable
to predators.
“They tag these snowshoe hares, have them in western Montana in these
habitats and examine how long they can make it,” Kuntz said. “Then they'll
run those studies to start making the connection that climate change is
really negatively impacting the species.”
The research project was featured this spring in the Netflix documentary
series “Life in Color with David Attenborough.”
The research facility at the University of Montana recently renewed its
accreditation for the next five years through the American Association for
Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care. The accreditation program evaluates
facilities internationally that use animals in researching, teaching or
testing. Over 1,000 organizations in 49 countries have earned accreditation.