Letter to USDA

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Letter to USDA – 2 April 2008

We wrote an email letter to Dr. Robert Gibbens of the USDA after learning about a horrible, unlawful experimental surgical procedure performed on a primate at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKERI) of San Francisco.

The following is the letter that we sent to Dr. Gibbens:

1 April 2008

Dr. Robert Gibbens
Director, Western Region
USDA/APHIS/AC
2150 Centre Avenue
Building B, Mailstop 3W11
Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117

Robert.M.Gibbens@usda.gov

Dear Dr. Gibbens:

We urge you to please take immediate action to terminate the primate experiments at Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKERI) which violate the Animal Welfare Act as reported by an inspector. This is the inspector’s summary of an egregious violation at SKERI:

“An investigator performed experimental surgical procedures on a primate without IACUC [Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee] approval or veterinary consultation. The experimental surgical procedure was not successful, leaving a primate with one screw in each zygomatic arch and one in the back of the skull.”

We look forward to your reply. You can contact us at the address in this letter.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Frank L. Hoffman
Mary T. Hoffman
 

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