University Fails Animals—Again (Update)

Update: After reviewing evidence submitted by PETA, the National Institutes of Health has reprimanded the University of Colorado–Denver (CU) for repeatedly violating federal animal welfare guidelines in its laboratories, criticized it for not reporting the problems, and ordered the university to repay grant money used for noncompliant experiments on animals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's investigation into CU's laboratories is still underway.

Originally posted January 29:

It's starting to feel like déjà vu: PETA has once again filed formal complaints with the federal government about the abuse of animals in laboratories at the University of Colorado–Denver (CU). Through a state open-records request, PETA has just learned that the same neglect and incompetence that we documented there in a 2007 investigation are still occurring.

The records show that during just the past two years, at least 60 animal welfare incidents—dozens of which may constitute violations of federal law and guidelines—have occurred, including the following:

• A worker broke a rabbit's back as the rabbit struggled against the worker's restraint. The paralyzed animal was still used in an experiment before she was finally killed.
• Experimenters induced cancer in animals and then ineptly cut off the resulting tumors, leaving the animals—who were given no pain relief—with large, gaping wounds.
• Live mice and rats were found in a freezer where dead animals were discarded.
• Twenty guinea pigs died or were killed after a worker injected them with an antibiotic intended for rats.
• A careless employee threw a box of live animals into the trash, leaving the animals to die slowly.

Based on PETA's undercover investigation, in 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited CU for serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act and also issued the university an official warning letting it know that it would be fined $10,000 per incident if it were found violating the law again. It's time for the government to follow through on that warning and stop CU's abuses for good.

How You Can Help  

Please ask the federal government to stop funding cruel animal experiments and to put your tax dollars toward modern, humane non-animal research methods.