SAEN & Portland Animal Defense League take on Primate Research Center –- FIVE Activists Arrested

On June 28, 2010, Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! and Portland Animal Defense League joined forces to oppose the brutal primate experiments at the Oregon Primate Research Center (OPRC -- hosted by Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU)), where more than 4000 monkeys are imprisoned.

Over 50 activists came together to fight for the freedom of the animals at OPRC. As facility/staff arrived for work, their path was flanked with protesters and blocked by five courageous activists who prevented all vehicular traffic from entering or exiting. While the protest continued for over four hours, the activists stood their ground, keeping the only access to/from the facility blocked.

This standoff drew massive media attention from virtually all Portland news outlets. Four television stations sent cameras, three local newspapers conducted interviews, multiple area radio stations aired coverage, and even the Associated Press ran an article statewide (see SAEN’s website for coverage).

This media blitz was due to SAEN blanketing every available media outlet with multiple press releases and updates which contained damning information about this lab’s recent federal violations that had literally killed animals and endangered others.

These federal violations include performing surgery on the wrong animal, allowing a pregnant female monkey to die of sepsis after her fetus died in utero, and dosing multiple primates with unapproved toxic chemicals. Clearly, these violations rank OHSU/OPRC as one of the worst laboratories in the nation.

After four hours, these five brave activists who risked their freedom were arrested -- charged with disorderly conduct and released the same day.

SAEN’s investigations have begun to uncover evidence of significant injuries and abnormal behavior by primates within this facility, as well as incidents of negligence overlooked by the USDA.

We will continue to work closely with Portland Animal Defense League in this ongoing campaign to keep the pressure on OHSU/OPRC, to continue the fight for the freedom of the thousands of innocent victims currently imprisoned in this concentration camp for monkeys.

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