Feds Issue UVA Official Warning After 40 Birds Killed by Predator: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
May 5, 2025

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Official Warning issued to the University of Virginia (UVA). The warning concerns a critical violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act, in which the university was cited for failing to construct a primary enclosure that would protect birds from injury, resulting in 40 birds being killed by a predator. The Official Warning is a federal enforcement action reserved for the most serious violations:

While the USDA’s official warning won’t undo the sheer terror endured by the dozens of sparrows trapped in a cage with a predator, it underscores the urgent need for the University of Virginia to reevaluate its use of animals in experimentation. UVA—which received over $354 million in federal funding and more than $13 million in state support in 2023­—has been cited for 50 violations of animal welfare regulations and guidelines in the past decade. Despite this, the school opposes increasing transparency in publicly funded animal testing facilities. PETA urges UVA to adopt the principles outlined in our Research Modernization Now, aligning itself with the growing federal emphasis on non-animal, human-relevant methods, helping the university lead in ethics and scientific innovation.

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.