Abstract: Employees of Charles River Laboratories, a Massachusetts-based company, were criminally charged with animal cruelty after two chimpanzees died at their New Mexico primate lab due to inadequate care. Unfortunately, the charges were dismissed due to the fact that the New Mexico statute carried an exemption the practice of veterinary medicine. Despite the fact that there were no attending veterinarians when these chimps suffered and died, the responsibility of monitoring of these chimps was bestowed upon security guards, the judge ruled that because the lab had veterinarians on staff, that meant that securing a conviction of animal cruelty against the lab was impossible for the state.
CHARLES RIVER CHARGED AFTER DEATHS OF CHIMPS
COMPLAINT ALLEGES ANIMAL CRUELTY AT FEDERAL FACILITY By Christopher Rowland, The Boston Globe, September 10, 2004
The deaths of two chimpanzees named Ashley and Rex, and a close call for a third, Topsy, at a government facility in the New Mexico desert have resulted in criminal charges against Wilmington's Charles River Laboratories, the world's largest supplier of lab animals.
The three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty against a federal government contractor are highly unusual. But the local law enforcement official who filed them, Otero County District Attorney Scott Key, said he was compelled to act based on what he described as "institutional neglect."
Key and his investigators pieced the case together from leaked medical and autopsy reports supplied by an animal rights group. After authenticating the documents, Key said he became convinced they portrayed a pattern of substandard care for animals by Charles River under a 10-year, $42.8 million contract with the National Institutes of Health at a facility near Alamogordo, N.M.
"Charles River is funded with millions of dollars to take care of these chimps, yet there is inadequate veterinary care," Key said in a telephone interview yesterday. "These situations occurred when gravely ill chimps were left overnight with untrained security personnel, and two of those chimps were dead in the morning."
Ashley was wounded by another chimp. Rex did not wake up from anesthesia after a checkup. Topsy almost died from a wound, also inflicted by another chimp. Court documents filed by Key's investigators also described the electrocution deaths of three other chimpanzees last winter, after repairs caused their perch to come into contact with a 270-volt electric line . The docu ments said that approximately 21 chimpanzees have died under Charles River care over a two-year period "either by natural causes or neglect by personnel."
The complaint filed Tuesday names the company, chief executive James C. Foster, and Rick Lee, the chief veterinarian in charge of the Alamogordo facility, as defendants. Each count carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and one year in jail.
Charles River declined to make Foster or Lee available for interviews. The company denied the allegations in a written statement.
"Charles River was selected by NIH based on its long record of leadership in the humane care and treatment of laboratory animals," the statement said. The company said it has four "world-class" veterinarians and a behavioral scientist on staff.
The company also said that in the cases of alleged chimp neglect that led to criminal charges, "veterinarians provided the immediate and appropriate medical attention necessary to the animals, all of whom had underlying health issues because of the diseases to which they had been exposed."
Chimps Ashley and Rex died at different times in 2002 at the Alamogordo Primate Facility, a lab with about 250 chimpanzees. The facility is maintained by the NIH to care for primates that have been used for government experiments and are no longer needed. They have been exposed to chemicals, infected with deadly viruses like AIDS and hepatitis C, and used in variety of other tests.
The NIH issued a statement yesterday that said it is reviewing the allegations.
The chimpanzee center was once operated by a private contractor called the Coulston Foundation, but NIH did not renew its contracts after a series of controversies, including an episode in 1993 when three chimps died after a space heater raised the temperature in their room to 150 degrees. Charles River Labs took over in June 2001.
A group called In Defense of Animals alerted Key, the district attorney, of the chimpanzees' situation. The animal rights group has spent more than a decade documenting alleged problems with government primate care in Alamogordo.
"Given this history of negligence, one would have thought that the NIH would have made sure the minimal standards of care were met," said Eric Kleiman, the group's research director. "Instead, there is alleged criminal activity there."
CRUELTY CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST CHARLES RIVER LABS By Christopher Rowland, Boston Globe, March 29, 2005
A state judge in New Mexico dismissed animal cruelty charges against Charles River Laboratories Inc. filed last year by local authorities after the deaths of two chimpanzees in the company's care.
The judge, Jerry H. Ritter Jr., of Otero District Court, said during a hearing last week that New Mexico's cruelty statutes contain an exemption for the practice of veterinary medicine. He found the lab chimpanzees cared for by Charles River Labs at the National Institutes of Health facility near Alamogordo fall into that category. He did not rule on whether the animals were treated inappropriately.
Charles River, which has headquarters in Wilmington, has a 10-year, $42.8 million contract to care for chimps at the NIH's Alamogordo Primate Facility. The facility is maintained by the NIH to care for primates that have been used for government experiments and are no longer needed. The 250 chimpanzees at the facility have been exposed to chemicals, infected with deadly viruses like AIDS and hepatitis C, and used in a variety of other tests.
The company issued a statement yesterday that said it was "pleased" with the judge's decision but declined to comment further.
District Attorney Scot Key filed misdemeanor criminal charges against Charles River in September 2004 after reviewing the deaths of chimps Ashley and Rex, who died at different times in 2002, and the near death of a third chimp, Topsy.
Ashley died of wounds she sustained in a fight with another chimp; Rex failed to recover from anesthesia; and Topsy almost died from wounds from another chimp, according to documents from the facility supplied to Key by a group called In Defense of Animals. Key said last year he filed the case after confirming the documents were authentic.
In the cruelty complaint filed in September 2004, Key alleged that Charles River veterinarians left the seriously wounded or disabled chimps under the supervision of unqualified security guards.
Court documents also described the electrocution deaths of three other chimps in 2004, after repairs caused their perch to come into contact with a 270-volt electric line. The documents said that about 21 chimpanzees have died under Charles River's care over a two-year period "either by natural causes or neglect by personnel."
Key did not respond yesterday to a request to comment. A spokesman for In Defense of Animals decried the judge's ruling and urged Key to appeal.
August 18, 2009
Several news updates on our main page recently. Stay tuned for an extensive update coming by the end of this month with more detailed information on many labs and vivisectors.
Friday July 31, 2009
A new and improved photo & video gallery is now on our site. The new gallery features newer photos at higher res, more photos, and the ability for users to submit comments/questions. If you have any photos we don't, we'd love to add them to our collection. If you have any protest pictures, send those in too, as we're currently working on a "protests" photo collection as well to compliment our "vivisection" collection.
Sunday July 26, 2009
New/updated information for vivisectors in several states: CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, TX, TN, SD, SC, RI.
Monday July 20, 2009 Fact vs. Myth section now up. Stay tuned as we debunk more myths on other topics in the coming weeks and months.
Tuesday July 14, 2009
New/updated information for vivisectors in AL, AZ, UT, VA, WA, WI.
Monday July 13, 2009
New essay, "How Like Us Need They Be?," by Rick Bogle, added to the essays section.
Wednesday July 8, 2009
More information added for Emory University, home to Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
Monday July 6, 2009 Two news articles and commentary posted regarding court settlement entered by USDA that states they must post facility reports of vivisection online for public access.
