The false sense of legitimacy that is
often associated with animal experimentation comes from the regulatory
framework which surrounds it. What the public isn’t told is who the
major violators of federal law are and how often they violate the Animal
Welfare Act.
Since the majority of animal
experimentation is funded by the National Institutes of Health with
federal tax dollars and the often-muddled results are used to establish
the supposed safety of drugs, the public has a right to know which
laboratories are/aren’t following the laws. However, the USDA does
little to publicize who the largest violators are.
Therefore, SAEN has undertaken a
national campaign to expose the worst law-breakers and enlighten the
public about how their safety is being endangered. As a result of
SAEN’s work, news stories across the nation have revealed that research
laboratories are often criminal entities violating the Animal Welfare
Act on a regular basis. Some of the worst labs are (2005 statistics):
Ø
University of
Pennsylvania (77 violations)
Ø
University of Wisconsin
(20 violations)
Ø
Covance (42 violations
in 2 labs)
Ø
Harvard (32 violations
in 2 labs)
Ø
Charles River
Laboratories (20 violations)
Ø
Boehringer Ingelheim
Pharm. (19 violations)
Ø
Boston University (11
violations)
Ø
Vanderbilt University
(13 violations)
Ø
Emory University (13
violations)
Ø
Merck (8 violations)
