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Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!
S. A. E. N.
"Exposing the truth to wipe out animal experimentation"

Newsletters
The Defender
From Spring 2008 Issue

SAEN Calls for Halt of Primate Experiment – at San Francisco Lab

The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKERI) of San Francisco currently receives funding from the National Institutes of Health for neurological experimentation involving primates. USDA reports for this facility dated 1/19/07 reveal major violations of the Animal Welfare Act. A shocking incident is summarized by the inspector which involved an experimental surgical procedure that was not approved by the Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC), as required by law:

“An investigator performed experimental surgical procedures on a primate without IACUC 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.”

“These are serious violations that circumvent the intent of the Animal Welfare Act by performing illicit procedures without any supervision,” said Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., Executive Director, SAEN. “This kind of criminal activity should lead to the termination of this project.” The totally unsupervised nature of this procedure which was performed without veterinary involvement or proper literature searches for alternatives clearly demonstrates that this “scientist” is functioning in an entirely unlawful fashion, circumventing all oversight procedures. SAEN has taken serious action against SKERI by contacting the USDA to request the immediate termination of this horrendous experiment.