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.
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full story: http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/10/emw448724.htm
