"THE GREAT ESCAPE: Research Watchdog Monday Reveals 'Lost' Documents Disclosing Dramatic Escape of 50 Monkeys, Negligent Deaths of Young Primates at UC Davis Primate Center"
2013-10-21 from "Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SAEN)" [www.all-creatures.org/saen]:
DAVIS, Ca. --
A federal research laboratory watchdog from Ohio will hold a short PRESS BRIEFING in front of the University of California, Davis Primate Center -- Monday/October 21 at 10:30 a.m. -- and disclose previously "lost" documents that reveal the negligent deaths of two young primates, and the dramatic escape of 50 rhesus monkeys from UC Davis' facility.
SAEN -- a national research watchdog group that has dogged UC Davis about negligent killings at its primate colony for more than a decade -- said it has federal documents where UC Davis admits the escape and deaths.
"We've also learned that other documents are being withheld from public view because they might 'interfere with a pending law enforcement proceeding,'" said Michael Budkie, executive director of SAEN.
Budkie, whose nonprofit group is based in Ohio, will be appearing at person at the news conference. He will be calling on UC Davis to be more transparent, and provide more details of how animals in its care are being systematically killed through negligence.
UC Davis was cited by the USDA in March of 2013 after SAEN called for the government agency to investigate and university for at least 19 primate deaths.
"Activist group riled over escape of 50 rhesus monkeys, and death of two, at UC Davis"
2013-10-19 by Edward Ortiz for "ModBee.com" [http://www.modbee.com/2013/10/19/2983347/activist-group-riled-over-escape.html]:
The recent deaths of two rhesus monkeys and the revelation that 50 rhesus monkeys escaped from an enclosure at the California National Primate Research Center at UC Davis in 2011, have prompted an animal rights group to claim that the university is not properly safeguarding the monkeys, or the public.
The university says it has followed strict guidelines set down by the National Institutes of Health for the care of laboratory animals in each incident.
In one case cited by the animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now, a 6-month-old monkey was found dead with a stuffed animal wrapped around its neck. A letter reporting the incident to the NIH said the death may have been brought on by a cage mate who was found holding an end of the stuffed animal. The other death involved a 7-month-old juvenile that was trapped in a squeeze door mechanism.
Some of SAEN’s harshest criticism of the primate center involves the escape of 50 rhesus monkeys from an enclosure on Dec. 17, 2011. That incident was never made public.
“We will file complaints with the USDA as these are serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act,” said Michael Budkie, director of Stop Animal Exploitation Now. “We believe UC Davis should pay a price for this. It’s a major issue because the primates we’re talking about could pose a public safety risk and the public should know when there has been a risk like the escape of 50 primates.”
The latest U.S. Department of Agriculture annual inventory of animals used for research and experiments at UC Davis shows 2,760 primates. There are 3,045 being bred or conditioned for experiments and research. The monkeys that escaped in 2011 were used for breeding purposes and not the study of diseases.
The 50 monkeys got out of their housing area when they manipulated gate latches and escaped into another corral area, according to a letter that the university sent to the NIH three days after the incident. None of the monkeys got off the research center grounds, but many of them had to be tranquilized before they could be returned to their enclosure.
“The escape is a situation where the rhesus monkeys clearly had improper enclosures. Animals were able to make their own way out, it is not like someone let them out,” Budkie said.
UC Davis spokesman Andy Fell said that there was never a risk of the monkeys leaving the grounds of the primate center, which is on a 300-acre tract of land 3 miles from the main campus. He did not say whether the same gate latches are still being used.
Escapes are not rare in research facilities, including the one at UC Davis. In 2003, a 4-pound rhesus monkey escaped during a cage cleaning. The escaped monkey was being used for breeding purposes and did not carry any infectious diseases, but it was never found. The incident was cited as a reason when the university lost a bid to host a $150 million biosafety research facility for the study of highly infectious diseases.
As regards the recent deaths, Fell said that all such facilities have mortality rates.
“Many of these animals live in large family groups in half-acre corrals. All animals are checked twice daily and our staff strives to provide the best care possible to animals in their charge,” said Fell. “The center is taking the extra step of investing in research that aims to further reduce mortality, especially among monkeys living in large groups outdoors.”
This is not the first time that SAEN, which is based in Ohio, has lobbied for the USDA to fine UC Davis over primate deaths. Earlier this year, SAEN called for the agency to investigate and cite UC Davis for 19 primate deaths. In those deaths it was established that 14 of the monkeys were infants 2 months old or younger whose deaths were blamed on lack of nutrition likely due to nursing problems. The others were older monkeys that died from gastrointestinal problems. The university was not fined in those deaths.
Researchers often use rhesus monkeys for research because of their anatomical and physiological closeness to humans. Moreover, the monkeys are easy to maintain and breed.
"Primate Center Protest 1st, then Arden Park Presents: Michael Budkie of S.A.E.N, October 20, 12PM UCDavis Primate Center"
[http://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-Animal-Rights-Meetup-Group/events/141061562/]:
First we will do our Organized Protest with red splattered shirts at the Primate Center at UCDAvis Primate Lab.
AFTER PROTEST AT UCDAVIS, We will go to optional lunch at Plum, then over to Arden Park Community Center, 1000 La Sierra Drive. Sac. at 4 PM, to hear Michael Budkie from Stop Animal Experimentation NOW! (S.A.E.N.) He will talk about Life in the Lab -- The truth about Animal Experimentation!
Please join us and learn the truth and help these wonderful animals who are in pain everyday of their lives!!
"Animal Rights Group Schedules Second UC Press Conference in Sacramento "
2006-10-10 posted to PRWEB [http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/10/prweb448724.htm]:
Davis, CA; Sacramento, CA -
Animal rights activists have requested a meeting with the Chancellor of the University of California, Larry N. Vanderhoef, in hopes of negotiating substantial changes for the UC Davis laboratories. Spokesman Michael Budkie of Stop Animal experimentation Now (S.A.E.N.) says “The health and well-being of the approximately 4500 primates who are confined at the University of California, Davis are a serious concern.” A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday, October 11 at 10:00 a.m.
In September, a coalition of animal rights groups, led by S.A.E.N. and the Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), scheduled a press conference which criticized UCLA research protocols.
S.A.E.N. recently completed an assessment of the overall condition of animals at UC Davis by examining the post mortem records for primates who died at the facility from August 2003 through February 2006. This examination involved records for a total of 590 primates, both infants and adults. Among the concerns cited by S.A.E.N. are dehydration, gastrointestinal problems brought on by stress, infant abuse, self-mutilation, and malnourishment. Budkie says that animals kept in stressful research conditions do not provide meaningful research data and are “a waste of federal funding for these facilities.”
Budkie blames lack of proper caging as one factor which contributes to stress in the laboratory animals.
“Their space is severely limited, such that a 33 – 55 pound primate lives in a space of 8 square feet. This is like a 165 pound human spending their entire life in a space that is 3 feet by 8 feet. These cages are made of stainless steel, containing at most a perch and a stuffed toy,” Budkie said.
Wednesday’s press conference will introduce a former UC Davis employee/animal caretaker who is coming forward to explain the conditions at the UC Davis labs. S.A.E.N. will present Chancellor Vanderhoef with a request for mitigation which will include:
1. Unannounced tours of UC Davis laboratories with news media present.
2. A schedule for the gradual reduction of the number of animals in UC Davis laboratories, so that funding can be directed into clinical and epidemiological research.
3. Immediate free access to all records relevant to animal research at UC Davis including: animal health care records, research protocols, and internal UC Davis inspection reports.
4. Immediate elimination of the use of primate restraint chairs, paralytic drugs, and water deprivation as a part of all UC Davis experimental protocols.
Members of the media are welcome to arrive at 10:00 a.m. in the Renaissance Room at the Howard Johnson’s located at I-80 and Mace Road (4100 Chiles Road) in Davis, CA. Any questions may be directed to Michael Budkie at 513-703-9865.
S.A.E.N. (http://www.saenonline.org) was founded in 1996 to force an end to the abuse of animals in laboratories. Its first major event was a news conference that revealed the suffering endured by dogs, rabbits, and primates in 9 laboratories across the United States. Since then, S.A.E.N. has investigated abuses of animals and violations of federal law inside dozens of American laboratories including: Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Stanford, and the Universities of California, Wisconsin, Florida, Alabama, Connecticut, Nevada, Iowa and Washington.
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