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:
“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.
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