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S. A. E. N.
"Exposing the truth to wipe
out animal experimentation"
From Spring 2009 Issue
U.S. Primate Experimentation Reaches All-Time High
According to statistics obtained from the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), the use of primates in experimentation reached
69,990 during 2007. This averages out to eight primates being
experimented on every hour in the United States.
leads the U.S. in the number of primates experimented on during 2007,
with 8859. The two largest facilities in Wisconsin for primate
experimentation are the University of Wisconsin and the Covance
laboratory, both located in Madison. This 2007 total of 8859 primates is
a drastic one-year increase of 44%.
Maryland is second for primate use with 6304, Massachusetts places third
with 5211, Washington comes in fourth with a usage of 4596, and
California rounds out the top five with 4470 monkeys used in
laboratories for 2007.
However, the USDA figures are incomplete due to a flawed reporting
process. Often over 60% of the primates held by individual laboratories
are not included in national experimentation figures. The University of
California, Davis is a good example of this situation. This facility
actually had 7681 primates on hand during 2007, almost twice the
reported total of 4470 for the entire state. Similarly, the SNBL lab in
Washington actually had 5246 primates which is more than the reported
state total of 4596, and the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical
Research in Texas held 5652 primates overall, while the USDA reported
the state total at 4389. In the most extreme case, the entire state of
South Carolina is reported by the USDA to have used 471 primates in
experimentation. However, the Alpha Genesis Corporation (Yemassee, SC)
alone held 8204 primates.
increase in primate experimentation comes at a time when the USDA has
allowed facilities to perpetrate serious violations of the Animal
Welfare Act without any meaningful repercussions, such as fines. The
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (San Antonio, TX) was
recently reported for beginning a post-mortem on a primate which was not
yet dead. The University of Wisconsin (Madison) was written up for
inadequate veterinary care in the death of a monkey. In May of 2008, the
Charles River Laboratories facility in Reno (NV) killed 32 primates in a
heating malfunction, literally cooking the animals.
The SNBL facility (Everett, WA) recently killed a monkey by leaving the
animal in a cage that was sent through a washing system.
Please contact the USDA to demand that
labs which kill animals through negligence be punished
to the fullest extent the law allows
Dr. Chester A. Gipson
4700 River Rd, Unit 84
Riverdale, MD 20737-1234
(301) 734-7833 (301) 734-4978 (fax)
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Return to Spring 2009 Issue