24,429 Animals Suffer from Illegal Activity by Labs; U.S. Labs Break the Law 3 Times A Day
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SAEN)
February 2011

WASHINGTON, DC – Recently obtained federal reports reveal that U.S. research laboratories break the law 3 times every day and that tens of thousands of animals are victimized by these violations annually.

Federal Violation Summaries obtained via the Freedom of Information Act reveal that overall U.S. labs broke the law 1000 times in one year, affecting 24,429 animals.

The most common violations were committed by Institutional Animal Care & Use Committees, supervisory panels within laboratories charged with approving experimentation and enforcing federal laws. These committees violated federal law 361 times, about once a day, and these violations account for 36% of the total. IACUC violations affected 6498 animals.

Another common area of violation was veterinary care, racking up 233 violations (occurring 2 out of every three days) and accounting for 23% of the violation total.

Additionally, over 2300 primates suffered psychological stress due to illegally inadequate environmental enhancement. Another 8000 animals suffered due to inadequate outdoor facilities.

Major violators included:

  • The University of Washington was cited for the starvation death of a primate.
  • Dartmouth was cited for improper euthanasia, when an animal woke up in a carcass freezer.
  • Charles River Laboratories was cited for boiling a primate to death in a cage washer.
  • Cornell University was charged in the death of a primate whose lungs exploded.
  • A kitten was found hung in a cage at Colorado State University.
  • Oregon Health Sciences University killed two primates by administering unapproved toxic chemicals, another died from a botched surgical procedure, and yet another died from inadequate veterinary care.

“U.S. labs violate the law every day, often with fatal consequences for animals,” said Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., Executive Director, SAEN. “Facilities that cannot follow basic husbandry laws should not be allowed to perform experiments on animals.”

The federal reports are available upon request.

See Eastern Lab Violations and Western Lab Violations.


Return to Animal Rights Articles