NIH Orders Return of Grant Money After Corroborating PETA's Cruelty Allegations
For
Immediate Release:
October
9, 2012
Contact:
Tasgola
Bruner 202-483-7382
Denver -- In response to a January 2012 complaint filed by PETA, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reprimanded the University of Colorado–Denver (CU) for repeatedly violating federal animal welfare guidelines in its laboratories and has ordered the university to repay grant money used on noncompliant experiments. PETA discovered dozens of violations through a Colorado Open Records Act request to CU last year and subsequently reported them to federal agencies.
According to documents just obtained by PETA, the NIH—which awards CU more than $175 million in grants annually—criticized the university for having a dismissive attitude toward these serious and ongoing problems and failing to report them, as required by law.
“Nothing will change the fact that rabbits, rats, mice and other animals suffered in invasive experiments without pain relief or were tossed into the trash alive at the University of Colorado–Denver," says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo, "but the school is learning the hard way that it can't violate federal animal welfare guidelines, try to keep it a secret, and expect to hold on to taxpayer money.”
Among the many problems that PETA brought to NIH 's attention was an instance in which incompetent CU staff paralyzed a rabbit by breaking her back while restraining her and still went on to subject her to an experiment before she was finally put out of her misery. Other CU experimenters induced cancer in animals, incompetently sliced off the tumors, and then left the animals to suffer with large, gaping wounds on their bodies—without any pain relief.
NIH's recent disciplinary action against CU follows an Official Warning from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2009 cautioning CU that further animal welfare violations could carry fines of $10,000 per incident. The warning was issued in response to PETA's 2007 investigation at the university, which revealed that sick and injured animals were denied veterinary care and that the school's animal experimentation oversight committee consistently failed to properly monitor animal use in laboratories. The USDA's separate investigation into CU's recent problems, also prompted by a PETA complaint, is ongoing.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.