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

Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 27, 2002

Contact: Cynthia (608) 257-6333

REPORT: Cannibalism, High Death
Rates Plague U.S. Primate Research
Laboratories, Including Wisconsin

MADISON - A national watchdog organization reports U.S. primate research facilities - including those at University of Wisconsin - are losing research subjects in alarming numbers, including infant mortality rates of up to 56 percent.

Many of the infants die as a result of cannibalism, according to Cincinnati-based SAEN.

Details of the report, which will be released nationally this week, will be made available WEDNESDAY, Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. at 122 State Street, Suite 406, 4th Floor Conf. Rm. The author of the report will be available to answer questions.

The investigative White Paper - "Forty Years of Fraud: The Regional Primate Research Center System" - outlines the spending of billions of tax dollars over four decades and the failure of the system to deliver any real discoveries for human health.

The report cites government statistics which reveal a peak high of 56 percent for infant mortality rates at primate facilities - and statistics that show nearly one in five of those die from cannibalism. Further, the report notes that nearly a third of adult primates also die at the centers - many from non-experimental ailments.

"These laboratories have developed a reputation for questionable animal care and the performance of highly invasive experiments with often-fatal results," said Mr. Budkie, chief investigator for SAEN.

"Whistleblowers have revealed abusive conditions at the centers, as have investigations by the USDA. Still, just eight of these centers have consumed at least $245 million in federal grants during the last full reporting year," Mr. Budkie said. Copies of the report will be available at the news conference.

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