Whistleblower Alleges Monkey Hanged While Tethered to Her Cage, Another Monkey Scalded to Death
For
Immediate Release:
January
18, 2012
Contact:
Kristin
Richards 202-483-7382
Pennington, N.J. -- Today, PETA filed formal complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Institutes of Health Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare regarding alleged violations of federal law pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb, the maker of Plavix and Abilify, among other drugs. The complaints are based on a whistleblower's report that, in the last six months alone, a monkey strangled to death after staff tethered her to a cage and left her unattended and a rat and a monkey each suffered excruciatingly painful deaths when their cages—with the animals still inside them—were run through a burning-hot cage wash. One cage-washer death has already been confirmed by the USDA.
"Death would have come from being pressure-hosed with boiling water," says PETA Vice President Kathy Guillermo. "If these allegations are true, the USDA should levy stiff penalties and Bristol-Myers should not receive another dime of taxpayer grant money."
PETA is calling on the USDA to investigate and, if appropriate, to cite and fine Bristol-Myers Squibb for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The group is also calling for the more than $3 million of taxpayer money that the company received in 2011 to be revoked if federal guidelines have been violated.
PETA has filed a shareholder resolution for the company's 2012 annual meeting to urge the company to be more transparent and to minimize its use of animals by implementing modern, non-animal testing methods.
For a copy of the shareholder resolution or more information, please visit PETA.org or click here.