Reckless Animal Experimenter Forced to Resign After PETA Exposé

September 2014

Following PETA’s exposé of the mistreatment of animals in the laboratories of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Charles Rupprecht—a callous and negligent animal experimenter formerly at the CDC—was forced to resign from Ross University, where he was the associate dean in charge of experimentation on animals. After a review of internal agency records, PETA discovered that when Rupprecht had served as chief of the CDC’s rabies program, he knowingly injected monkeys with a dangerous strain of rabies that the handlers weren’t inoculated against and failed to inform the staff. He was responsible for at least nine violations of federal animal welfare regulations between 2007 and 2012—including incidents in which animals were infected with rabies and left unmonitored. Two monkeys were even found dead in their cages after they had been infected with viruses and inadequately monitored. As a result, Rupprecht was permanently banned access to all CDC animal laboratories and resigned in disgrace before being hired by the university.

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 Ingrid E. Newkirk

“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?” READ MORE

— Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA President and co-author of Animalkind