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

Articles and Reports

Response Letter to Breedlove of MSU - 6 Jun 2008

6/6/08

S. Marc Breedlove
Chair, IACUC,
Michigan State University
108 Giltner Hall
East Lansing, MI 48224-1101

Mr. Breedlove,

I am in receipt of correspondence which you sent to concerned citizens who had contacted you to raise questions about the treatment of animals within the labs of the Michigan State University. I am very distressed by statements which you made within these pieces of correspondence, and feel that they need to be addressed.
In your correspondence you say;

“The USDA did not find any violation of the Animal Welfare Act had occurred.”

As you know, the USDA did in fact cite MSU for the issues surrounding the deaths of the puppy who drowned in a floor drain and the mink who died of heat stress. Additionally, the USDA issued an Official Warning to Michigan State University for violating section 3.6(a)(2)(ii) for failure to provide adequate primary enclosures and section 3.127(b) failure to provide adequate shelter during inclement weather. Both of these violations took the lives of animals. Since this Official Warning was received by MSU in September of 2007, it is quite clear that you were aware of this action. The only interpretation that can be supported by these facts is that your intention was to deliberately mislead the public with your statements. I hereby request that you issue a public retraction of this statement to every person who received your inaccurate communications as well as an apology.

There are two other issues from your correspondence that need to be addressed. First, PETA did not inform these citizens of the issues surrounding Michigan State University, and so your attacks on PETA are both misplaced and irrelevant. Concerns about the treatment of animals at MSU arose from USDA documents which were released to the news media by SAEN, the organization which I direct. In the future you may want to get your facts straight before firing off random and irrelevant attempts at organizational character assassination.
Lastly, your statement that:

“Donations to anti-research groups further the causes of terrorism, deception and hate.”

is both inflammatory and inaccurate. Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! is not a terrorist organization, all of our statements are (as is the case with MSU) based on verifiable documentation. Additionally, since we have respect for all living things, including humans, we do not practice hate. While we do not agree with many of the practices used in research laboratories, we believe in the concepts of respect, negotiation and dialogue. We do not promote hatred, dishonesty or terrorism. I would like to encourage you to adopt the same approach. Making random blanket statements about entire segments of society which label them as hateful, terrorist, and deceitful serve only to inflame already heightened emotions and prevent rational dialogue.

In order to facilitate the process of dialogue, and to give you the opportunity to dispel concerns about the improper treatment of animals at Michigan State University, I would like to officially request a tour of all MSU laboratories which utilize animals in any way whatsoever. The opportunity to visually inspect the facilities and animals at MSU will give me the ability to assess their condition. As a part of this tour, which I expect will take several days; I would like to officially request the opportunity to examine all research protocols and health care records for the animals at MSU. This will also provide the opportunity to assess MSU’s operations and procedures. I think it will also be important to ascertain the sources of animals used at MSU, to determine if university projects routinely utilize former companion animals in experimental procedures.

I look forward to receiving your response within a five (5) business days of receipt of this letter. I trust that you will begin the process of correcting your inaccurate, inappropriate and prejudicial statements immediately, and I would appreciate seeing a copy of the correspondence that you utilize to rectify your previous statements.

With Respect For All Life,

Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T.,
Executive Director, SAEN 

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Please send your comments to S. Marc Breedlove

S. Marc Breedlove
Chair, IACUC,
Michigan State University
108 Giltner Hall
East Lansing, MI 48224-1101
517-355-1749
[email protected]  

See Also: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

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