Protesters say U. is a violator of the Animal Welfare Act
The Daily Pennsylvanian
Lara Seligman
Issue date: 10/20/08 Section: News
For some Philadelphia residents, Primate Liberation Week is about
giving Penn students an education - and a reality check.
On Saturday, a group of about eight people gathered at the corner
of 34th and Walnut streets to protest animal cruelty as the week
designated to aiding primates used for scientific research came to a
close.
Media Credit: Alex Remnick
Protestors gather during Primate Liberation Week to speak out
against Penn's animal research policies.
"Basically, we just want to raise awareness," said Philadelphia
resident Rachel Ogden. "Not a lot of people know about [primate
abuse]."
According to one protestor who declined to give her name, Penn is
one of eight labs in the United States that tests on primates.
Ogden said that of these labs, Penn is one of the worst violators
of the Animal Welfare Act, which requires that minimum standards of
care and treatment be provided for certain animals used in research.
Last year, research watchdog group Stop Animal Exploitation Now
called Penn the most frequent violator of federal animal-abuse
guidelines in the country, with 77 citations during a nine-month
period.
SAEN reported that most of Penn's violations are in three areas:
veterinary care; housing, facilities and sanitation; and
institutional animal care and use committees.
The AWA leaves a fair amount of room for error, said the
protestor. Violators are given 30 days to correct their behavior,
and most labs - including Penn - don't end up with citations even if
they continue committing the alleged wrong
She added that Penn has failed "to meet even minimal
requirements," and that a lot of that research is "not
scientifically valid," but that the group was not protesting any one
researcher in particular.
One protestor wore a body TV which showed an excerpt from a
documentary taken in the investigation of a primate facility in
Oregon.
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