Pigs can get Ebola, but do they spread it? KAMPALA, Uganda; NAIROBI, Kenya––Domestic pigs may already be among the vectors transmitting deadly Ebola viruses to humans, though no one knows for sure yet, warns a five-member International Livestock Research Institute team in a soon-to-be-published edition of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. The […]
Factory-farming monkeys is A-OK with Hendry County brass
Zoning officials zoning? LaBELLE, Florida––Monkey-farming is animal agriculture within the meaning of the zoning ordinance in Hendry County, Florida, county officials announced on August 18, 2015. Hendry County residents opposed to the location and practices of Primate Products and two other nearby laboratory monkey breeding facilities had hoped that they could be closed for alleged […]
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston failed to euthanize monkeys dying from Ebola-Marburg
Project leader Thomas W. Geisberg was 2014 TIME Person-of-theYear GALVESTON, Texas––A recent investigation of a disease in the Ebola family done at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston involved alleged “critical, major, and minor” violations of animal welfare protocols, according to an audit by the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases. […]
Abandoning Vilab II chimps in Liberia, New York Blood Center did it before in Ivory Coast, SAEN charges
Founding scientists had committed to lifelong care NEW YORK CITY, MONROVIA, CINCINNATI–– “The New York Blood Center––already embroiled in charges it has abandoned 66 former research chimps to starve to death in Liberia––apparently discarded another largely unknown group of 20 chimps in Ivory Coast in 1983, on an island adjacent to Azagny National Park,” […]
N.Y. judge starts habeas corpus procedure for two lab chimps
“Show cause” order issued on behalf of Hercules & Leo NEW YORK, N.Y.–– Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Barbara Jaffe late on April 20, 2015 ordered Stony Brook University to show cause why two chimpanzees, Hercules and Leo, should not be released under a writ of habeas corpus from confinement for biomedical research. “Under the law […]
Forced abortions raise alarm over Florida lab monkey breeders
“Not In My Back Yard” dispute becomes national debate LaBELLE, Florida––A long-running “Not In My Back Yard” dispute over the location of a breeding facility in Hendry County, Florida that supplies monkeys to laboratories has exploded into a nationally visible debate over how monkeys are used in labs. Which is what many of the opponents […]
CDC safety scandals & the legacy of former star scientist Charles Rupprecht
“Leadership commitment toward safety has been inconsistent and insufficient at multiple levels” ATLANTA––The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention during the third week of March 2015 quietly posted a highly critical report of itself by an outside panel of biosecurity and safety experts. The CDC at the same time issued a public statement accepting […]
PETA claims win against cat studies at UW-Madison, but maternal deprivation experiments continue
Long-festering issue helped to spark the rise of the animal rights movement MADISON, Wisconsin––People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on January 23, 2015 declared victory in a long-running campaign against cat experiments at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. That returns the focus of protest against animal research at UW-Madison to the resumption of […]
Igor, 58, ex-laboratory gibbon
Igor, 58, a male gibbon who had resided at the International Primate Protection League sanctuary in Summerville, South Carolina since 1987, was euthanized on October 13, 2014, three days after suffering a stroke that left his right side paralyzed and not responding to treatment. “Igor could not swing or climb,” IPPL founder Shirley McGreal told […]
Florida lab investigated for neglect that killed a monkey
Water was withheld from monkeys overnight TAMPA, PORTLAND, ST. LOUIS––The University of South Florida police department has reportedly opened an investigation into whether criminal acts were committed when water was withheld from monkeys overnight in April 2013 and three times in December 2013. “At least one primate died, and […]