PETA Statement: Flimsy Oversight, Neglect Lead to Hamster Deaths at the University of Massachusetts Medical School

For Immediate Release:
October 26, 2021

Contact:
Amanda Hays 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from Dr. Alka Chandna, PhD, PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Cases concerning U.S. Department of Agriculture documents showing that the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School was cited for critical violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act:

Something is rotten in the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School’s animal laboratories. Just-released government documents obtained by PETA reveal that the university was cited for critical violations of federal animal welfare laws for obscene neglect resulting in the death of hamsters. It appears that inadequate oversight of an experiment on hamsters resulted in an “unanticipated outcome.” Experimenters euthanized some of the hamsters—but later that day, it was discovered that three hamsters had been left behind. Two had died, and the third was then euthanized. Hamsters are known to be intelligent, sensitive, and meticulous in their attention to detail, but the same cannot be said about UMass experimenters.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.