Home Page
|
Stop Animal
Exploitation NOW!
Media Coverage
Nation's Worst Violator of Federal Animal Welfare Laws Friday, August 6, 2004 SAN FRANCISCO -- A nonprofit group against the use of animals in
medical research has found University of California San Francisco to be
the nation's worst violator of federal animal welfare laws. Stop Animal Exploitation Now released a report Thursday that shows
USCF was issued 51 federal citations over three years. The violations ranged from inadequately trained laboratory personnel
to failing to administer painkillers to a monkey after cranial surgery.
The animal welfare group based its report, "Breaking the Law: Animal
Care in U.S. Labs," on U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection reports
between 2000 and 2003. The USDA is required to conduct biannual
inspections of research facilities. UCSF associate vice chancellor for research Ara Tahmassian said in a
statement Thursday that animal research is never undertaken lightly. He said UCSF researchers who work with animals have been credited
with an array of medical breakthroughs. One example is a UCSF researcher who after spending decades studying
the lungs of various animals was able to produce an artificial form of a
substance that coats the interior of lungs and allows them to expand and
contract. The discovery saves the lives of tens of thousands of
premature infants every year who are born without the ability to produce
the substance. UCSF is the nation's fourth-largest National Institutes of Health
grant recipient, after Johns Hopkins, the University of Pennsylvania and
the University of Washington. Other institutions cited as violators of the federal Animal Welfare
Act include Johns Hopkins, Emory University, the University of
Pennsylvania, Harvard University, the University of Florida and the
University of Pittsburgh.
|
