PETA to USDA: Get Serious About Enforcement at UC-Berkeley

For Immediate Release:
May 30, 2023

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Berkeley, Calif. –

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President and University of California–Berkeley alum Kathy Guillermo regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) official warning to UC-Berkeley, following the scalding deaths of two bats left in a high-temperature cage washer:

Staff negligence at UC-Berkeley caused the scalding deaths of two bats who had been left to endure unimaginable pain in a high-temperature cage washer, and the only enforcement action that the USDA can muster is issuing a mildly worded piece of paper. At the very least, it should file an administrative complaint against the university and seek the maximum fine.

All staffers had to do was simply look into the cage to ensure it was empty. It’s even written in the school’s own standard procedure. But apparently, that’s too much for staff to accomplish, which is why UC-Berkeley doesn’t deserve the more than $144 million in taxpayer money it received from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2022. PETA has already filed an official complaint with NIH, urging it to withdraw its funding.

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