(From Press Release) – The University of California at Davis – which recently paid a significant federal fine for mistreating animals and is now most criminal university connected to the national primate centers – has negligently killed at least two other animals and repeatedly violated federal law, according to a national research watchdog group.
Government records show that, since Feb 2016, UC Davis has had more federal Animal Welfare Act violations than any of the other laboratories connected to the six remaining national primate research centers
UC Davis recently announced payment of a $5,000 federal fine for a “CRITICAL” citation issued in a 2016 U.S. Dept. of Agriculture inspection for the death of a rabbit, noted SAEN, an Ohio-based nonprofit that monitors U.S. research facilities for violations of law and animal abuse.
Now, SAEN said it has uncovered two new federal reports which reveal new “REPEAT CRITICAL” citations issued by the USDA, both of which were connected to animal deaths.
An April 17, 2018 inspection contains a “REPEAT CRITICAL” citation for the death of a guinea pig who was killed after a five-foot fall caused by a UC Davis lab worker who, according to the violation, “mistakenly removed a section of a guinea pig enclosure resulting in one guinea pig falling out of the enclosure to the floor.”
And a Feb. 7, 2018 inspection listed another “REPEAT CRITICAL” citation for a July 27, 2017 incident: “an anesthetized rabbit on a study protocol was to be injected with a contrast medium. Following injection, the rabbit immediately died. The technician realized that the stop-cock valve used for the procedure had been turned in the wrong direction, the contrast medium had drained from the extension tubing, and air had been injected instead.”
This incident is very similar to a previous citation which drew the $5,000 fine, noted SAEN.
“It is eminently clear that the University of California, Davis believes that it is above the law, and routinely flaunts the authority of the USDA,” said SAEN co-founder and executive director Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T. in a complaint filed with the USDA. ” It is time for your office to take meaningful action against this lawbreaking lab to show the administration that any further animal deaths will simply not be tolerated.”
SAEN’s Complaint calls for the maximum federal penalty, $10,000 per infraction/per animal.
SAEN’s Complaint, which contains all relevant federal reports, is available at: https://saenonline.org/media-University-of-California-Davis-Official-Complaint-8-4-18.html.
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