USDA Fines University of Texas Medical Branch

December 2012

After reviewing complaints filed by PETA based on internal documents obtained through an open-records request, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to pay more than $9,000 for egregious violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act—including failing to supply veterinary care to a sheep who had been used in experimental back surgery and could not stand up, adequate veterinary care to a goat who died on an operating table, and post-procedural pain relief to three sheep used in experimental surgeries.