Feds Cite OHSU, Again, After Neglect Causes Monkey Death, PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
April 11, 2025

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Science Advisor for Primate Experimentation, Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, regarding the just-released violations levied against Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). As OHSU pushes to acquire Legacy Health, the USDA has cited its primate laboratory for four violations of the Animal Welfare Act—including a critical violation in which a young Japanese macaque died of sepsis after staff ignored her symptoms and necessary medical attention was not provided:

A young monkey suffered and died a miserable death because no one bothered to call a veterinarian. Dozens more were locked in cages so small they couldn’t move properly, and the enclosures themselves are rusted, filthy, and falling apart. This isn’t science—it’s a scandal. With over $47 million in National Institutes of Health funding and a hospital merger pending, the primate center still can’t adhere to the most basic animal protection laws. The primate center should close and state officials should block OHSU from expanding its reach while it operates a lawbreaking primate lab. No institution that lets monkeys rot in cages should be handed the keys to Oregon’s health care system.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.