from In Defense of Animals
http://www.vivisectioninfo.org/Coulston/charges0701/
Animal Advocates Predict Coulston's Collapse, Urge
Congressional Hearings, Federal Takeover of Lab and Permanent Retirement
of Chimpanzees
Washington, DC (July 25, 2001) - The reeling Coulston
Foundation, a New Mexico primate testing lab, has been hit with an
unprecedented fourth set of federal charges for multiple violations of
the Animal Welfare Act, In Defense of Animals and Animal Protection of
New Mexico announced today.
The charges, filed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
on July 12, relate to the negligent deaths of two chimpanzees named
Donna and Ray, inadequate veterinary care, inadequate veterinary
staffing, conduct of unapproved research, and multiple violations of a
federal consent order. They follow similar complaints filed by the USDA
in July 1995, March 1998, and February 1999. The July 12 formal
complaint is available on the web at
http://www.vivisectioninfo.org/Coulston/charges0701/
"We're pleased that our evidence against this lab has
been upheld by the USDA, and that some small measure of justice will be
sought for Donna and Ray, who died horribly from Coulston's egregious
negligence," said IDA Research Director Eric Kleiman.
The unparalleled USDA charges were prompted by evidence
provided by IDA, which included whistleblower reports of negligence.
"This lab has been in continual violation of federal law
for years and has thumbed its nose at federal authorities as the death
toll keeps mounting," said APNM development director Harriette Roller,
who noted that this is the tenth time Coulston has been cited for
inadequate veterinary care, involving 14 chimpanzee deaths. Over 40
primates have died at the lab under conditions suggesting neglect, she
added.
As a result, IDA and APNM are calling for "an immediate
USDA takeover of the lab and the permanent retirement of the more than
300 chimpanzees imprisoned there."
The current charges against the lab include:
* "Failing to establish and maintain programs of
adequate veterinary care" in the case of Ray, a ten-year-old, NIH-"owned"
chimpanzee who was observed to be "ill and hypoactive [abnormally
inactive]" but was not treated for two days, at which time he was found
dead.
* "Failing to establish and maintain programs of
adequate veterinary care" and "failing to provide adequate veterinary
care" in the case of Donna, a 36-year old former Air Force chimpanzee
who died of a massive infection after carrying a large dead fetus in her
womb for at least two weeks. According to the USDA complaint, Coulston
veterinarians performed belated surgery on Donna at which time she was
"found to have a ruptured uterus, peritonitis and necrotic [dead]
bowel." Despite her condition, Coulston veterinarians were unable to get
permission to euthanize Donna, and she was allowed to recover from
anesthesia in that agonizing condition. She died several hours later and
"experienced severe pain before and after surgery," according to the
charges.
* Failing to employ an adequate number of qualified
veterinarians, a condition that continues to this day, according to the
complaint.
* Engaging in research prior to approval by the
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), which by law must
give the go-ahead to all protocols involving animals. The complaint also
charges that the lab conducted research that deviated significantly from
IACUC-approved protocols. This was the ninth time the lab has been cited
for such violations, involving at least four chimpanzee deaths.
According to the complaint, each new charge also
constitutes violations of a federal settlement order the lab signed with
the USDA in August 1999 to settle previous formal USDA charges. The
assessed $100,000 penalty was held in abeyance unless the lab violated
the consent order's conditions.
Coulston officials have repeatedly denied the
violations, even claiming publicly that Donna "received the best medical
care" and that Ray died of "routine medical complications." One Coulston
official, Kay Izard, also accused IDA of "exaggerat[ing]," but the USDA
complaint upheld IDA's allegations.
The groups predicted that the latest charges should be
the death knell for the lab, which has been teetering on the verge of
bankruptcy for years and has survived only as a result of a two-year,
$3.09 million bailout from the National Institutes of Health. IDA's
Kleiman said that the NIH's illegal financial support for Coulston ended
May 31. He predicted that without these federal funds, Coulston would
fold.
"Now the question becomes, what happens to the
chimpanzees at Coulston? Who steps forward to provide the funds
necessary to care for these long-suffering individuals and ensure that
they get the permanent retirement they so richly deserve?" he asked,
suggesting that all the entities involved in supporting and/or giving
chimpanzees to Coulston must be involved in funding the chimpanzees'
permanent retirement. These include the entities that "dumped"
chimpanzees on Coulston - the U.S. Air Force, New York University, and
New Mexico State University - as well as the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, whose various agencies used Coulston chimpanzees for
research and breeding for years.
Kleiman reserved special criticism for the NIH, which
enabled Coulston's negligence to continue by illegally funding the lab
for years while it was consistently violating federal animal welfare
laws. All of the new charges occurred during the NIH's illegal $3.09
million bailout. Kleiman directly blamed the NIH for Ray's death. The
young chimpanzee was one of 288 whom the NIH took "ownership" of last
year but left under the control of Coulston for over a year, despite the
lab's abysmal animal care record.
"The NIH cannot be allowed simply to 'wash its hands' of
the disaster it has both enabled and created at The Coulston
Foundation," Kleiman concluded. "The NIH's actions are a scandal of
national proportion. We urge Congress to investigate and hold the NIH
accountable for the lies it has repeatedly told, the laws it has
repeatedly broken, and the chimpanzees it has supported and now
discarded at Coulston."
IDA is an international animal rescue and advocacy
organization based in Mill Valley, Calif. APNM is a statewide animal
advocacy organization based in Albuquerque
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