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Letter of Complaint to USDA about Animal Cruelty at Duke and Wake Forest
18 June 2007 Dr. Elizabeth Goldentyer Dr. Goldentyer, I am contacting you regarding a matter of the utmost urgency and
importance. I have recently obtained information regarding two research
facilities: Wake Forest University and Duke University, both in North
Carolina. Two documents which are excerpts from recent research projects
at these universities are attached to this email. The attached procedures, published in medical journals, describe
brain mapping projects which are underway at Duke and Wake Forest.
Several USDA regulations are relevant to specific concerns about these
research projects. Sec. 3.83 Watering. Potable water must be provided in sufficient quantity to every
nonhuman primate housed at the facility. If potable water is not
continually available to the nonhuman primates, it must be offered to
them as often as necessary to ensure their health and well-being, but no
less than twice daily for at least l hour each time, unless otherwise
required by the attending veterinarian, or as required by the research
proposal approved by the Committee at research facilities. These research projects, at both universities, seriously restrict the
amount of time during which water is available to the primates used in
these experiments. I would like to request that you examine all logs for
the primates used in the research of Michael Platt and Heather Dean at
Duke University as well as the primates used in the research of Terrence
Stanford at Wake Forest University to determine whether these animals
have received adequate access to water as is required by the Animal
Welfare Act. Sec. 2.31 Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). (x) No animal will be used in more than one major operative procedure
from which it is allowed to recover; Provisions prohibiting the performance of unapproved surgical
procedures are also likely to be relevant to these projects since
devices such as eye coils and recording cylinders often need to be
replaced/relocated due to infection, non-adherence, etc. during
experimentation. Sec. 3.81 Environment enhancement to promote psychological
well-being. (b) Environmental enrichment. The physical environment in the primary
enclosures must be enriched by providing means of expressing (c) Special considerations. Certain nonhuman primates must be
provided special attention regarding enhancement of their environment,
based on the needs of the individual species and in accordance with the
instructions of the attending veterinarian. Nonhuman primates requiring
(1) Infants and young juveniles; (2) Those that show signs of being in psychological distress
through behavior or appearance; (3) Those used in research for which the Committee-approved
protocol requires restricted activity; (4) Individually housed nonhuman primates that are unable to see
and hear nonhuman primates of their own or compatible species; It is quite clear that the activity of these monkeys would be
restricted, and so special considerations must be made to allow for
their psychological needs. Lastly, these regulations are likely to be relevant as well: Sec. 2.36 Annual report. b) The annual report shall: (7) State the common names and the numbers of animals upon which
teaching, experiments, research, surgery, or tests were conducted
involving accompanying pain or distress to the animals and for which
the use of appropriate anesthetic, analgesic, or tranquilizing drugs
would have adversely affected the procedures, results, or
interpretation of the teaching, research, experiments, surgery, or
tests. An explanation of the procedures producing pain or distress in
these animals and the reasons such drugs were not used shall be
attached to the annual report; Now, it is quite clear those non-human primates who are confined to
restraint chairs, have limited access to water, potentially limited
environmental enhancement and who have devices literally bolted to their
skulls would experience pain and/or distress. The Animal Welfare
Enforcement Report for Fiscal 2005 & 2004 show no primates for the
entire state of North Carolina experiencing unrelieved pain and
distress. It is obvious that both Wake Forest and Duke Universities have
filed blatantly dishonest documents with the USDA. Therefore, I am filing an official complaint against these
universities and asking that the health and welfare of all primates used
in the research of Michael Platt and Heather Dean at Duke University as
well as the primates used in the research of Terrence Stanford for the
last two years, as well as the annual reports of Duke and Wake Forest be
examined in full detail to determine if any violations of the Animal
Welfare Act have occurred. I would also request that you provide me with the results of this
investigation when it is completed. Sincerely,
Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., See:
Duke University Primate
Experiments
Wake Forest Primate Research Grant Funding -
2005 - PDF Format
Wake Forest Primate Experimentation
Procedures
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