PETA complaints spur USDA warning to Oregon National Primate Research Center in Hillsboro By Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian, March 12, 2009
The animal rights group PETA has won the latest skirmish in the long dispute between the Oregon National Primate Research Center, which uses monkeys in biological research, and activists who oppose studies on animals.
In December, the United States Department of Agriculture issued a warning letter to the primate center for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which regulates treatment of many commercial animals from pet kittens to laboratory guinea pigs. The warning cited three errors in veterinary care, including a serious 2007 incident where a pregnant monkey died when a researcher failed to notice she was having a troubled labor. The two other incidents involved a sponge being left in a monkey after surgery and a surgery performed on the wrong monkey.
The lab reported the incidents to the National Institutes of Health, said Jim Newman, a spokesman for Oregon Health & Science University, which runs the center. And the center added training and banned one researcher from animal contact in response.
While the NIH regulates many aspects of animal research, the USDA enforces the Animal Welfare Act. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked the USDA to investigate the incidents. Inspectors visited the Hillsboro lab in October and issued their warning in December, but PETA just got the warning last week through a freedom of information request and made the findings public on Thursday.
The warning is rare for OHSU -- Newman said the lab has received no similar notices for at least decade. Practically, it has little effect -- the USDA warnings carry no penalty but warn recipients that "if you fail to comply with the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act in the future, this citation and all past and future documented violations will be used to justify a more severe penalty," including fines of up to $3,750 per violation.
Kathy Guillermo, PETA's director of lab investigations, said the warning was significant because it was the first one to uphold "all of the years of complaints" the group made about animal treatment at the lab. Guillermo said the group sifted more than 1,000 pages of documents to identify the three cases, and didn't know how representative they were of care at the Oregon center or the nation's other seven primate centers. But "we suspect that there are problems like this ongoing," she said, and wishes the USDA had more inspectors to check labs.
Newman said the incidents were isolated, self-reported to the NIH and the reports were posted on OHSU's Web site. The incidents led to rule changes including a new protocol for performing C-sections. "There actually was quite a large reaction to it," he said. And while operating on the wrong monkey and leaving the sponge in were serious mistakes, he noted that similar things happen in surgeries on people because of human errors.
The USDA inspects the primate center about twice a year, Newman said. Such unannounced inspections are the main way the USDA enforces the animal act, with inspectors noting small problems and giving labs time to fix them. Warning letters are the next level of enforcement. Higher levels include negotiated fines, license suspensions and, in serious cases, criminal charges. On average, from 2007 through 2009 the USDA investigated 512 cases a year and sent out 195 warning letters.
-- Andy Dworkin; andydworkin@news.oregonian.com
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.
