For immediate release:
October 22, 2021
Contact:
Amanda Hayes 202-483-7382
Portland, Oregon. – PETA just received documents revealing flagrant animal welfare violations in Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) laboratories, prompting the group to send a letter today to School President Danny Jacobs asking for a zero-tolerance policy that would deny anyone the right to experiment … caught for violating federal rules and regulations for the protection of animals.
Among other incidents, workers did not notice when a monkey was trapped between a wall and a row of cages, causing injury and requiring euthanasia. Two monkeys were scalded to death in a high-temperature cage washer, 12 mice slowly drowned due to the gradual leakage of water from the valve, and after workers forgot to place water bottles in five cages, four prairie voles died of dehydration, and one was euthanized …
“No one who scalds a monkey to death or lets a dozen mice drown is not dealing with animals,” says PETA vice president Dr. Alka Chandna. PETA Calls on President of OHSU to End Deadly Incompetence in School Labs.
The documents also show that several experimenters deviated from the protocols approved by the university’s supervisory authority. In one case, a ferret had to be euthanized after an experimental brain surgery performed by untrained personnel. Two other ferrets, which were used in the operation, were seen suffering – one apparently developed an infection, as indicated by a “strong foul odor”. In another case, experimenters incorrectly cut out the skull of a monkey, and then refused veterinary care to the animal for several days. Subsequently, the monkey developed a brain infection and had to be euthanized.
In 2020, OHSU received more than $ 340 million in taxpayer money from the National Institutes of Health, of which about half went to animal experiments.
PETA, whose motto is in part that “animals are not ours to experiment on” – opposes arrogance, a worldview focused on human excellence. For more information on collecting news and reporting on PETA investigations, please visit PETA.org or subscribe to the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram…