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Watchdog organization calls UC Davis report on charges of animal cruelty a ‘whitewash,' launches independent investigation into lab's brain experiments FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Davis, CA - A national research watchdog organization Monday labeled a
University of California, Davis internal investigation of charges of
animal cruelty by a ‘whistleblower' a "whitewash," and said it will launch
its own probe of the university's research laboratories. The 14-page UC Davis report was issued today in response to allegations
made by a former UC Davis employee of inadequate veterinary care, improper
feeding of primates and negligence in the case of a heater malfunction
that took the lives of seven primates. "This report is a blatant whitewash, and another attempt to hide UC
Davis' dirty laundry. This facility has a history of filing fraudulent
reports with the USDA. Why should it be honest now?" said Michael A.
Budkie, A.H.T., and executive director of SAEN, a national non-profit
research watchdog based in Cincinnati. Budkie noted that previously filed UC Davis documents have failed to
fully disclose the use of primates in experiments involving unrelieved
pain/distress, including experiments involving the use of bolts in the
heads of primates and depriving primates of water for as long as 21 hours
per day, 5 days per week. "This so-called ‘investigation' is nothing more than another part of an
ongoing effort to keep the money flowing into the university's coffers, at
the expense of cruelty to animals and taxpayer dollars," said Budkie,
noting that the UC Davis Primate Center is connected to about $94 million
annually in federally-funded research. SAEN has announced it has launched an independent investigation into
brain research at UC Davis, requesting hundreds of pages of documents
because recent government findings in response to a SAEN complaint led to
citations and reprimand for a researcher performing similar experiments at
the University of Washington, Seattle. "We believe that the public has the right to know the truth, and that
is why we have launched our own investigation of the UC Davis
laboratories," added Budkie. "Our probe will be based on documents and
hard facts, not institutional bias." -30-
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