OU fined thousands after federal violations, abuse of animals
Media Coverage About SAEN Stop Animal Exploitation Now

ACTION ALERT:

Contact the USDA to Demand another Federal Fine against OU:

Dr. Robert Gibbens
Director, Western Region, USDA
[email protected]
[email protected]

SAMPLE MESSAGE:

Thank you for levying a $19,143 fine against the University of Oklahoma. However, serious federal violations at this facility have continued. So, please LEVY another Fine against Univ. of Oklahoma for their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) when their negligence killed a dog and 5 guinea pigs. This repeat offender's behavior must NOT be tolerated and MUST be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

 

OU fined thousands after federal violations, abuse of animals

By Rachel Goodwin, KTUL.com, January 22, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY - According to documents obtained by a national research watchdog group, The University of Oklahoma has been fined $19,143 for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act.

OU's violations, leading to the abuse of animals within its research program, were learned of by Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! [SAEN], a nonprofit organization that monitors U.S. research facilities  . The organization said they learned about OU's violations when they were cited by the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service [APHIS/AC] division in 2014-early 2015.

The violations include inadequate veterinary care, failure to follow research protocols and failure to administer pain relief in connection to surgical procedures and failure to observe animals adequately.

Some of the incidents involved the hosing down of baby baboons, guinea pigs who bled to death, failure to monitor baboons during surgical procedures and failure to provide environmental enhancement to a psychologically stressed primate.

According to SAEN, further alleged incidents involved the death of a dog.

"This significant fine signals that the USDA is taking OU's federal violations very seriously and will not allow continued illegal activity by OU research staff to go unpunished," said Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., Executive Director, SAEN. "I expect that this may well be the first of several federal fines against OU."

SAEN also revealed only two guinea pig deaths were originally reported to OU administration with "details that revealed participation in the experiment by unapproved personnel, use of unapproved drugs, unapproved animal housing and unapproved methods used for administration of the test substance."

Administrators with OU later discovered three additional guinea pigs deaths and other violations.

"The incidents disclosed in the USDA fine, when taken together with more recent information, substantiate that OU's entire animal research program is damaged beyond repair," added Budkie.

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