Animal Rights Group Schedules Second UC Press Conference in Sacramento
Animal rights activists have requested a meeting with the Chancellor of the University of California, Larry N. Vanderhoef, in hopes of negotiating substantial changes for the UC Davis laboratories. Spokesman Michael Budkie of Stop Animal experimentation Now (S. A.E. N.) says “The health and well-being of the approximately 4500 primates who are confined at the University of California, Davis are a serious concern.” A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday, October 11 at 10:00 a. m.
Davis, CA; Sacramento, CA (PRWEB) October 10, 2006
Animal rights activists have requested a meeting with the Chancellor of the University of California, Larry N. Vanderhoef, in hopes of negotiating substantial changes for the UC Davis laboratories. Spokesman Michael Budkie of Stop Animal experimentation Now (S. A.E. N.) says “The health and well-being of the approximately 4500 primates who are confined at the University of California, Davis are a serious concern.” In September, a coalition of animal rights groups, led by S. A.E. N. and the Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), scheduled a press conference which criticized UCLA research protocols.
S. A.E. N. recently completed an assessment of the overall condition of animals at UC Davis by examining the post mortem records for primates who died at the facility from August 2003 through February 2006. This examination involved records for a total of 590 primates, both infants and adults. Among the concerns cited by S. A.E. N. are dehydration, gastrointestinal problems brought on by stress, infant abuse, self-mutilation, and malnourishment. Budkie says that animals kept in stressful research conditions do not provide meaningful research data and are “a waste of federal funding for these facilities.”
Budkie blames lack of proper caging as one factor which contributes to stress in the laboratory animals.
“Their space is severely limited, such that a 33 – 55 pound primate lives in a space of 8 square feet. This is like a 165 pound human spending their entire life in a space that is 3 feet by 8 feet. These cages are made of stainless steel, containing at most a perch and a stuffed toy,” Budkie said.
Wednesday’s press conference will introduce a former UC Davis employee/animal caretaker who is coming forward to explain the conditions at the UC Davis labs. S. A.E. N. will present Chancellor Vanderhoef with a request for mitigation which will include:
1. Unannounced tours of UC Davis laboratories with news media present.
2. A schedule for the gradual reduction of the number of animals in UC Davis laboratories, so that funding can be directed into clinical and epidemiological research.
3. Immediate free access to all records relevant to animal research at UC Davis including: animal health care records, research protocols, and internal UC Davis inspection reports.
4. Immediate elimination of the use of primate restraint chairs, paralytic drugs, and water deprivation as a part of all UC Davis experimental protocols.
Members of the media are welcome to arrive at 10:00 a. m. in the Renaissance Room at the Howard Johnson’s located at I-80 and Mace Road (4100 Chiles Road) in Davis, CA. Any questions may be directed to Michael Budkie at 513-703-9865.
S. A.E. N. (www. saenonline. org) was founded in 1996 to force an end to the abuse of animals in laboratories. Its first major event was a news conference that revealed the suffering endured by dogs, rabbits, and primates in 9 laboratories across the United States. Since then, S. A.E. N. has investigated abuses of animals and violations of federal law inside dozens of American laboratories including: Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Emory, Stanford, and the Universities of California, Wisconsin, Florida, Alabama, Connecticut, Nevada, Iowa and Washington.
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