ACTION ALERT:
Contact:
Dr. Robert Gibbens
Director, Animal Welfare Operations, USDA-APHIS
[email protected]
[email protected]
Please levy the MAXIMUM FINE against Sam Houston State University for their
blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act which led to the deaths of ten
cows due to dehydration. Their behavior should NOT be tolerated and MUST be
punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Watchdog files complaint against Sam Houston State University over deaths of cows
From Southeast Texas Record, September 22, 2021
Sam Houston State University is the subject of a federal complaint lodged
with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture by a national research watchdog after a
FOIA report showed that SHSU confessed to the negligent deaths of 10 cows, a
press release states.
SAEN, an Ohio-based national watchdog that monitors the nation's research
facilities for illegal activities, has filed a federal complaint with USDA
alleging that the cow deaths violated the federal Animal Welfare Act, which
regulates laboratories, colleges, and universities who use animals “for
research, tests, experiments, or teaching.”
The SHSU report states: “ten beef bulls died in the field due to no water.”
The research administration at SHSU suspended the project, and the
individual responsible for the project has been replaced.
SAEN alleges that the animal deaths, and the botched/suspended protocol,
violate multiple federal regulations for watering, reporting, and protocol
supervision by an Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee.
The federal complaint filed with the USDA calls for a full investigation and
a federal fine of $10,000 per infraction/per animal, or $100,000.
“What kind of an example does this incident give the students of the Animal
Science program at Sam Houston State University,” said SAEN Executive
Director Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T. “Negligence like this must be punished.”