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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 VICTORY – USDA Penalizes U of Washington Lab

The University of Washington, Seattle (UW) is home of the Washington Primate Research Center, which imprisons over 2200 primates including rhesus monkeys and baboons. The University of Washington squanders over $250 million per year in the performance of animal experiments.

In 2006 SAEN filed an official complaint with the USDA against the laboratory of Albert Fuchs. This spawned an investigation revealing that Fuchs was performing unapproved surgeries -- a clear violation of federal law. This investigation resulted in the laboratory being cited by the USDA and Fuchs’ research project being suspended. Furthermore, he was reprimanded by the UW and prohibited from publishing this research. Additionally, in an unprecedented move, the UW is being forced to refund the grant money for this illicit experiment to the National Institutes of Health.

Moreover, as the probe of Fuchs’ research was conducted, investigators discovered that his lab was not the only one at the UW that was performing unapproved surgeries. Shockingly, this investigation disclosed forty-one unapproved surgeries being performed on fourteen monkeys by five different researchers!

One of these researchers is Michael Shadlen. Not only does his lab perform unapproved surgeries, but many of the primates in this project are subjected to severe deprivations.

One primate, named Brigit, received only 3 cups of water for the entire week dating 12/14/05 - 12/20/05. During this period, Brigit’s weight reached a low point of 10 lbs. Yet, earlier on 5/16/05 she was listed with a weight of 14.5 lbs. This is a weight drop of 32%.

Hannah, another primate in Shadlen’s lab, was killed on 8/25/05 at a weight of 21.5 lbs. Earlier, she had been recorded as consuming less than 5 cups of fluids for a one week period, which resulted in an extremely low weight of 13.5 lbs, for a weight loss of 38%.

Oscar, yet another primate in Shadlen’s lab, is listed with a weight of 28.5 lbs on 12/25/04. Later, during the month of September, 2005, he reached a low weight of 21.6 lbs, for a loss of 24%. During this nine month period, Oscar’s water consumption was restricted reaching a low point where he received only 17 oz of water for roughly a two week period.

Damien, another of Shadlen’s primates, has a top weight of 20.75 lbs on 3/6/06. But by 8/22/06 his weight had declined to only 13.25 lbs, a loss of 36%. In the week preceding 8/22/06, Damien consumed less than 4 cups of water.

Many researchers at the UW torture primates by bolting cylinders to their heads, confining them to restraint chairs, and depriving them of food or water. In recently obtained internal UW documents, SAEN ascertained that UW monkeys are so abused that UW veterinarians have been forced to treat them for malnourishment. These internal documents also reveal that UW animal care staff deliberately lied to the USDA to hide their own negligence surrounding the death of at least one primate in Fuchs’ lab.