HSUS Wants NIRC to halt potential government contract fraud

By: Humane Society of the United States

WASHINGTON (March 15, 2011) – The Humane Society of the United States has filed legal petitions with the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services Tuesday requesting investigations and legal actions to halt potential government contract fraud at the New Iberia Research Center, a primate laboratory located in New Iberia, La. and part of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

As outlined in the petitions, The HSUS has amassed public records suggesting that NIRC may be breeding federally-owned chimpanzees for use in invasive research in violation of the terms of a multi-million dollar grant agreement between NIRC and a division of the National Institutes of Health called the National Center for Research Resources. NIRC has received the grant annually since 2000, to the tune of more than $10 million.

"This appears to be an open and shut case of government fraud under the federal False Claims Act," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president and chief counsel for animal protection litigation at The HSUS. "The Attorney General should investigate this matter, terminate illegal breeding at NIRC, and take legal action to recover any taxpayer monies squandered by this facility."

Documents obtained by The HSUS demonstrate that during the past 10 years, NIRC has produced at least 123 infant chimpanzees, some of whom were prematurely and cruelly torn away from their mothers. The documents also show that an additional 14 infants died as a result of trauma by adult chimpanzees possibly due to negligent management practices and overcrowding at the NIRC facility. The surviving 123 chimpanzees may languish for the next 50 years or more in laboratories that are totally insufficient to meet their basic needs, while NIRC stands to profit from its breeding program by leasing the young chimpanzees for invasive research.

Evidence presented in the petition shows that by alleging extensive chimpanzee birth control practices and withholding information about young chimpanzees born at its facility, among other things, NIRC may have misrepresented its breeding program to the NCRR in grant progress reports and application materials. These misrepresentations could be violations of the federal False Claims Act, which could entitle the NCRR to recoup up to $30 million in damages due to the law's trebling, or tripling provision.

The HSUS is asking the Department of Justice to take enforcement action against the laboratory for fraudulent use of federal money, and is requesting that the Department of Health and Human Services cease funding the laboratory. The HSUS is also requesting that the Department of Health and Human Services immediately send all federally-owned chimpanzees residing at NIRC to permanent sanctuary with appropriate funding.

The full text of The HSUS's legal petition to the Department of Justice can be downloaded here. The full text of The HSUS's legal petition to the Department of Health and Human Services can be downloaded here. The necropsy reports of the 14 infants who died of traumatic injuries can be found here. B-roll is available to the media upon request.

Facts:
* There are approximately 1,000 chimpanzees in six laboratories in the United States; approximately 500 of these chimpanzees are owned by the federal government.

* Under the False Claims Act, the government can collect treble damages for fraud by government contractors, which means that NIRC could be required to pay $30 million for repeatedly violating its grant agreement with NCRR while certifying compliance with the breeding moratorium.

* The contract between NIRC and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, titled "Leasing of Chimpanzees for the Conduct of Research," is for a total of $7.8 million and is scheduled to end in September of next year, but is up for renewal this coming September.

* Each chimpanzee born into a laboratory can live 60 years and cost the federal government as much as $1 million during his or her lifetime. Seven of the 123 chimpanzees born at NIRC are now owned by, and are the responsibility of, the federal government.

* The HSUS revealed the results of an undercover investigation conducted at NIRC in 2009, including distress caused by lack of enrichment and socialization, severe psychological distress, and inadequate veterinary care.

* The National Institutes of Health has announced that the National Academy of Sciences will be conducting a review to the use of chimpanzees for research purposes, further strengthening the argument to immediately stop the flow of new chimpanzees into the laboratory system.

To learn more about chimps in research, visit Here.humanesociety.org/chimps
Story Credit Here

Cosponsors of Chimpanzee Bill Urge Congress to Take Next Step

The Humane Society of the United States

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  More than 1,000 chimpanzees languish in U.S. labs. HSUS
  
  
  

Members of Congress recently pressed U.S. House committee leaders to take a step towards passage of the Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326).
This critical legislation would end harmful research on chimpanzees, retire the approximately 500 federally owned chimpanzees to sanctuary, and make permanent the National Institute of Health's administrative ban on the breeding of chimpanzees for research purposes.
The bill could also save nearly $200 million in taxpayer dollars.
Widespread Support
On December 4, the sponsors of the bill—Reps. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., Dave Reichert, R-Wash., Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md.—sent a letter on behalf of the bill's cosponsors to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Ca., and House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J. asking for a hearing on the Great Ape Protection Act.
Since the letter was sent, Congressional support for the bill has grown to over 130 cosponsors. Renowned backing primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall has also backed the bill. Dr. Goodall recently met with Chairman Waxman on Capitol Hill to express her support for the legislation.
Federally Funded
The letter highlights the fact that American taxpayers spend an estimated $25 million each year on chimpanzee maintenance and research, but approximately 90 percent of chimpanzees are not used in active experiments. Instead, they are wasting away in federally funded facilities—some for more than 50 years.
The letter also urges Congress to ensure that precious federal research dollars be invested wisely and used in methods that will more likely lead to effective treatments and cures for human illnesses.
Languishing in Laboratories
The opportunity to provide humane retirement for chimpanzees, coupled with the potential taxpayer savings, justifies the consideration of the Great Ape Protection Act.

"Many of these chimpanzees have been languishing in government facilities since the Eisenhower Administration. It is long past time to let our closest living relatives live out the rest of their lives in sanctuary far away from the barren laboratory cages where they are now stored," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.

The use of chimpanzees in lab research has drastically declined in recent years due to past scientific failures, discovery of more practical alternatives, high financial costs, increased public outcry and ethical concerns. Yet, there are still approximately 1,000 chimpanzees currently living in seven laboratories in the United States. The U.S. is the only developed nation in the world that continues to use chimpanzees in harmful, invasive research.

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PETA'S Informant of Animal Abuse Leads To Seizing More Than 20,000 Animals

This is why, when PETA does their "not so normal" awareness campaigns, it's not that important. Without PETA, just on this case alone, how long would these animals have had to suffer before someone noticed them?

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ARLINGTON -- A veterinary technician working undercover for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at U.S. Global Exotics in north Arlington documented the mistreatment and deaths of thousands of animals, many which he said were kept in cramped containers without food and water for more than a week.

The PETA insider, interviewed by Arlington animal welfare officials last week, detailed numerous examples of cruelty he observed during the past seven months at the Internet-based exotic animal wholesaler, located in the 1000 block of Oakmead Drive.

On Tuesday, Arlington Animal Services, along with the Humane Society of North Texas and the SPCA, raided the business and seized more than 20,000 animals, ranging from tiny frogs and turtles to sloths and kinkajous. Workers, who said the smell of death inside the one-story tan building was overwhelming, also removed hundreds of carcasses.

Arlington Animal Services interviewed the confidential informant Dec. 9 after being asked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department to investigate whether animals at the location were being treated cruelly, according to an affidavit released by the city Wednesday.

Earlier that day, the federal agency had seized documents and computers from the business related to its investigation into whether animals bought and sold by the business were falsely identified or labeled in violation of federal code, according to the city document.

Animal officials have called Tuesday�s raid the largest of its kind.

Among the animals that were still alive were lizards, a large variety of snakes, spiders and crabs, as well as sugar gliders, sloths, hedgehogs and prairie dogs, officials said. The animals, some quite valuable, have been taken to undisclosed locations for care.

Federal investigation

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department is investigating whether U.S. Global Exotics violated Title 16 USC 3372 (d) of the Lacey Act, which makes it unlawful for any person to make or submit any false record, account, or label for, or any false identification of, any fish, wildlife, or plant which has been, or is intended to be� (1) imported, exported, transported, sold, purchased, or received from any foreign country; or (2) transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

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A Decade Of Research Shows Lack Of Impact On Human Health For Hepatitis C Study On Chimpanzees

Review of decade of research shows lack of impact on human health

The Humane Society of the United States questions the use of chimpanzees in hepatitis C testing despite a recent announcement claiming effective treatment of hepatitis C in chimpanzees with a new experimental drug. A recently published report, Chimpanzees in hepatitis C virus research: 1998-2007, initiated by The Humane Society of the United States, found that hepatitis C research on chimpanzees was not as useful as is claimed and urged a commitment to other approaches that show more promise for developing effective therapies for hepatitis C.

The HSUS-initiated report, in the Nov. 9 online edition of the Journal of Medical Primatology, identifies many scientific problems with the chimpanzee studies including a lack of biological relevance, questions regarding the statistical validity of the studies, and incompleteness in the reporting of methods and experimental data. While many of the published chimpanzee studies, including the recent study mentioned above (published in the Dec. 3 issue of Science Express), claim to produce important results for the treatment of human hepatitis C infections, closer scrutiny reveals the claims are exaggerated.

"The cost of using chimpanzees in research is enormous — both financially and in terms of chimpanzee suffering," says Andrew Rowan, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for The HSUS. "If you look collectively at their use, as our recent review does, the benefits for human health have been meager at best. For the most part, studies of hepatitis C in chimpanzees, such as the one most recently touted, do little more than confirm what is already suspected from research that does not involve chimpanzee use."

Experimental hepatitis C vaccines, usually developed and tested using chimpanzees, have been disappointing when tested in human patients, and the results from chimpanzees have not reliably predicted the human clinical experience. Among the many differences between chimpanzees and humans, chimpanzees do not develop active chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis or liver cancer and often spontaneously clear hepatitis C infection. More detailed scientific analysis and arguments regarding The HSUS' concerns related to the recent drug study and other data are available here.

Chimpanzees in hepatitis research suffer from isolation and confinement in small cages, as shown in The HSUS' 2009 undercover investigation, and must endure invasive procedures from repeated liver punches and wedge biopsies to remove liver tissue. Very few of the more than 100 published papers report the use of anesthetics or pain-relieving drugs in chimpanzee studies, although liver biopsy usually requires sedation and painkillers when done in human patients.

In vitro and other technological developments in conjunction with human studies hold more promise for the development of effective vaccines to prevent hepatitis C infections and treat the estimated 170 million people currently infected with this virus.

Facts

• The study Chimpanzees in hepatitis C virus research: 1998-2007 by Raija Bettauer, M.S., reviewed 109 articles, the total number of articles in the PubMed database published in English between January 1998 and December 2007 involving live chimpanzees.
• Although results of hepatitis C studies using chimpanzees have questionable application to humans regardless of the number of chimpanzees used, nearly 50 percent of the studies used only one to three chimpanzees — leading to major questions regarding the statistical significance of any findings reported.
• More than 50 percent of the chimpanzees were used in multiple studies but papers typically failed to mention previous health history or its potential impact.
• The Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326) would phase out the use of chimpanzees in invasive research, retire the 500 federally owned chimpanzees to sanctuary, and prohibit the breeding of chimpanzees for invasive research.

To learn more about chimps in research, visit humanesociety.org/chimps.

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization — backed by 11 million Americans, or one of every 28. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty — On the Web at humanesociety.org.

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Thank You Oklahoma State University, Burns Hargis and The Cummings School Of Vet Medicine, Tufts University

I did read in here that Burns Hargis doesn't want to participate in an anthrax research project. With this being said, I guess that would mean that there already is a project on Primates for Anthrax, and if not perhaps in the future. egh....... What do we need this for, that scare was years ago. Just another way for the drug companies, scientists and government facilities to make money, in my opinion!

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The decision by Hargis not to participate in an anthrax research project that would have resulted in the euthanasia of more than 100 baboons has occasioned some interesting reaction, especially from the research community in his own university. However, his decision is not unique.

The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in barred any primate research in its laboratories for a long time (I am not sure if it still does). There were two main reasons why the school made this decision — one ethical and one pragmatic. The ethical reason dealt, among other issues, with the challenges of providing adequate care for the primates. The pragmatic reason was that the was located nearby.

In another case, a committee of experts convened by the concluded that it was not ethical to euthanize research chimpanzees simply for reasons of space, economics or human utility. This decision then led indirectly to the passage of the CHIMP Act and the establishment of a retirement program for unwanted (and expensive) laboratory chimpanzees.

The is now promoting the Great Ape Protection Act in Congress to end all invasive research on chimpanzees. We argue that the use of chimpanzees in biomedical research is expensive, difficult, of limited use in developing new knowledge, and morally unacceptable given that chimpanzees display many of the qualities of personhood that appear to be the foundation for the societal prohibition against using humans as mere means to ends.

The baboons that would have been used in this project are not thought to have mental lives that match the complexity of those displayed by chimpanzees. However, they still lead highly developed cognitive lives and will suffer in boring and cramped housing. They are also difficult and expensive animals to maintain in laboratory cages. Generally their existence in such facilities ranges from significantly compromised at best to miserable at worst!

We at The Humane Society of the United States understand why Hargis decided as he did and we hope that the discussion rippling out from his decision leads to the rapid ending of invasive research on chimpanzees (the only acceptable ethical outcome) and a re-evaluation of how we keep and use baboons in laboratories across the nation.

Rowan is chief scientific officer of The Humane Society of the United States.

The Humane Society of the United States is now promoting the Great Ape Protection Act in Congress to end all invasive research on chimpanzees.

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86 Dogs Pulled from One Mobile Home

LITTLE ROCK — Officials seized nearly 100 dogs, six cats and two guinea pigs from several trailers on a rural Johnson County property Tuesday, where officials said animals were “cash crops” in a puppy mill operation.

Sheriff Jimmy Dorney said a search warrant was executed Tuesday at the home outside Lamar, about 10 miles southeast of Clarksville, after the department received a complaint.

“They weren’t pets. We believe at this time that these dogs were being used as breeder dogs,” Dorney said. “It was like a puppy mill.”

The sheriff said two women lived at the property, but he did not release their names because they had not been arrested or charged. He said the seizure of animals continued Tuesday afternoon and that officials don’t yet know how many dogs were being kept on the property.

“It’s still early in the investigation. We don’t have a whole lot of answers yet,” Dorney said. “We’re working on trying to get the dogs out of there, first thing, get all the evidence logged. Our main concern is for the safety of the animals.”

The Humane Society of the United States assisted in confiscating the animals. The dogs including small breeds, like Chihuahuas and Shih Tzus, the Humane Society said.

“These dogs were being kept not as beloved pets, but as cash crops — churning out litter after litter of puppies for the profit of the property owner,” Scotlund Haisley, the Humane Society’s senior director of emergency services, said in a statement. “The animals on this property were in dire need of help — one dog was so matted that we had to cut him out of his cage.”

The sheriff said the animals were being taken to a warehouse with on-site veterinary care in nearby Clarksville. He said all the dogs seized were alive, but some were in poor condition.

“I pulled 86 dogs out of one trailer, a mobile home that is about 16 (feet) by 50″ feet, he said. “They were all in cages in crates inside this trailer.”

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You Can Help, Write an Animal Law

How many times have you heard about a cruel or abusive practice involving animals, and wondered, “How can that be legal? Isn’t there a law against that?”

Now, the Humane Society Legislative Fund has an opportunity for you to take your idea
and help shape future public policy reforms for animals. HSLF has launched its first-ever
“There Oughta Be a Law” contest, and we're asking animal lovers like you to submit
your concept for a federal animal protection bill.

Every good law starts as an idea, and people who care about animals know
first-hand the problems and challenges they face. Many lawmakers run
similar contests each year and some great new laws have bubbled up through
that process.

Some of the most significant animal protection laws, too, have been the
result of compelling personal stories. In 1966, after America learned the
fate of a female Dalmatian named Pepper who was stolen from a farm in
Pennsylvania and sold to a research facility in the Bronx, Congress passed
the federal Laboratory Animal Welfare Act. And in 2008, 11-year-old Haley
Ham led the charge to pass "Haley's Law" in Tennessee, requiring the
addition of a bittering agent to antifreeze and engine coolant, after her
own beloved dogs, Jessie and Sam, were killed by the sweet-tasting liquid.

As a citizen, you have the power to influence your elected officials, and
you can participate by submitting your idea -- it could become the next
federal bill to help animals around the country. We've already received
more than 1,200 entries, demonstrating a surge of interest in lawmaking
to protect animals, and I hope you'll add yours to the mix.

The winning entry will be selected by a panel of judges including

legislators and lobbyists, and will be announced at our next Party Animals

event on October 25th. The winner will receive an exciting two-day trip

to the nation's capital that will include a meeting with me and the rest of

the HSLF staff to discuss his or her proposed bill, a visit to Capitol Hill

to lobby federal lawmakers and congressional staff with us, a special

feature in an upcoming edition of our bimonthly newsletter

"Humane Activist," and an opportunity to see the sights of Washington, D.C.

And if you haven't participated in Party Animals before, it's another

great way to get involved, bringing people together on one night at the

same time for a party with a purpose. Using tools provided by HSLF,

party hosts create their own website, establish a fundraising goal,

send invitations to friends and family, and collect donations through

a secure online server. It’s fun and easy and it brings people together

to stand up for animals. To join the fun, let us know if you're

interested in hosting a Party Animals house party.

The core principle of democracy is a belief in the wisdom of the people.

I can’t wait to see the ideas that your wisdom will bring, and I look

forward to the new animal protection policies that will be generated

by animal advocates around the country. The contest ends at

midnight on October 5th -- submit your idea today!

Like what you’ve read? Subscribe to Mike’s blog by email or RSS.

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Monkey on Shoulder Commercial, HSEU Pulled it

(Media-Newswire.com) - Following a complaint by Humane Society International, the European Commission has decided within the last few days to withdraw an EU-funded anti-smoking TV advertisement.

The advert in question, broadcast throughout the European Union, featured a woman in a park with a collared monkey sitting on her shoulder. When she attempts to smoke, the monkey grabs the packet and rips it to shreds.

HSI argued that this advertisement was both highly irresponsible and incompatible with EU animal protection policy. Moreover, the advert suggested that the EU condones the use of exotic animals as pets, thus undermining existing efforts to stamp out the cruel exotic pet trade.

In his response, the European Commission's Health & Consumer Protection Directorate-General acknowledged that animal protection, and the illegal pet trade in particular, was an important concern at the European Commission and has consequently pulled the offending advertisement.

"We are pleased that the Commission has pulled this advert. The trade in non-domesticated exotic animals, such as primates, is currently a major animal welfare problem within the EU," said Mark Glover, director Humane Society International UK.

"The trade can have far-reaching consequences for the wild populations from which these animals are obtained at an early age. The young animals are primarily destined for the illegal pet trade and will generally go on to lead miserable lives in captivity. Whether taken from the wild or born in captivity, primates are totally unsuitable for being kept as pets."

Animal welfare organisations throughout Europe are working to end the trade in non-domesticated exotic species not just as pets, but also for the entertainment industry. Awareness campaigns educate the public, particularly young people, with regard to the unsuitability of keeping exotic animals, such as monkeys, as pets.

Barbary macaques, a species similar to the monkey exploited in the EU-funded advert, are the most common victims of the illegal trade in exotic pets in Europe. Young Barbary macaques are smuggled from Morocco to Europe on a relatively large scale. The trade in these animals is so extensive that it has threatened the very survival of the species in their native Atlas Mountain habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has consequently classified the Barbary macaque as endangered in its Red List.

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Oregonians Fighting Against Primate Laws

BY JAMES PITKIN | jpitkin at wweek dot com

[March 25th, 2009]

This month, a public hearing in the state Capitol got personal.

The debate pitted Mark Hass, a former TV reporter turned state senator from Raleigh Hills, against a ragtag crew of what you might call average Oregonians.

Average, that is, if most Oregonians spent their days changing monkey diapers and feeding Siberian tigers.

The hearing turned on a simple question: Should citizens be allowed to keep wild and exotic animals as pets?

The Legislature has tried unsuccessfully to outlaw such animals three times before, twice with Hass leading the effort. This time around, his frustration was starting to show.

Near the end of the hourlong hearing, Hass finally snapped at his opponents. He pointed to the bill’s supporters.

“We have heard from doctors of veterinary medicine. We have heard from scientists [and] law enforcement,” he said.

Then he turned to his antagonists.

“I was just wondering, with all due respect, if you could give us your numbers of years in any formal training.”

“It made me feel awful,” says Molly Schaefer, an exotic animal breeder with 20 years’ experience but no formal schooling in animals. “I walked out of that room feeling pretty low.”

This may be the year Hass succeeds. Senate Bill 391, which he’s co-sponsoring with state Sen. Brian Boquist (R-Dallas), would make keeping a wild or exotic animal as a pet a violation of state law.

It’s not that Hass is down on pets. Quite the opposite. Proud owner of Elly and Gilbert, golden retrievers that have appeared in his campaign fliers, Hass thinks keeping wild animals away from the wilderness and others of their kind is inhumane.

Lions, tigers, bears, monkeys—Hass says they simply don’t belong in people’s homes.

“What that is, is neglect,” he says. “Inadvertent abuse.”

Plus, Hass says they threaten public safety—a point that is easier to make after a 200-pound chimp named Travis tore off a woman’s face in Connecticut last month.

Yet Hass’ bill faces vigorous opposition from Schaefer and others who work with exotic animals every day. They say those animals are often better off in captivity—offering educational opportunities and a bond with humans that are too extraordinary to outlaw.

Hass isn’t swayed.

“The overriding public policy here is that wild animals should live in the wild,” he insists. And like all talented legislators, he has an anecdote to support his cause.

For Hass, it’s all about Al the alligator.

Four feet long and restless, Al escaped from his owner’s home in the summer of 2002 and wandered for days through the Beaverton suburbs. Neighbors panicked and TV news cameras rolled.

“Fortunately, he didn’t eat any kids or cats or dogs,” Hass says. “But unfortunately, he was almost dead when the police found him.”

With the economy in free fall, exotic pets don’t exactly top anyone’s list of pressing emergencies. But after Travis’ attack in Connecticut, Hass isn’t the only Oregon lawmaker with monkeys on his mind.

Late-night TV viewers may recall a comic shellacking Democratic congressman Earl Blumenauer suffered last month at the hands of Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

Blumenauer’s blunder? The congressman from Portland is tackling a problem he frames as a significant threat to public safety. That is, of course, interstate trafficking in pet primates.

Showing clips of a bowtied Blumenauer on the House floor, Stewart dubbed him “Congressman Orville Redenbacher” and joked about Blumenauer’s secret desire to kiss a chimp’s “soft, soft monkey lips.”

For Blumenauer, who has described The Daily Show as his personal favorite, the ribbing may have been particularly painful. The normally voluble congressman did not respond to WW’s repeated requests for an interview.

Stewart had a larger point in the 10-minute segment titled “Felonious Monkeys.” Why fret about apes when Americans face generational challenges like war and recession?

But true to his inner wonk, Blumenauer has plenty of arguments to support his Captive Primate Safety Act.

The bill would ban interstate transport of monkeys, apes and other primates for purposes of the pet trade. It passed the House last year but died in the Senate. Blumenauer voted in favor, and this time he’s taking charge as the main sponsor.

Railing against the primate trade on the House floor last month, Blumenauer seized on the Connecticut attack that left a 55-year-old woman in a coma, her facial bones crushed, her hands and eyelids ripped away.

“The most important issue in the world? Maybe not, until tragedy strikes your family or your community,” Blumenauer said. “We’re also going to have to do something in the long run with other inappropriate pets, like crocodiles and pythons.”

Echoing Hass, Blumenauer described the indignity of turning wild animals into household fixtures.

“Their needs are not being met dressed up in tutus or taught to drink wine from wine glasses,” Blumenauer said. In a reference to the Almighty, he insisted this was “not appropriate treatment for some of God’s creatures.”

Blumenauer’s bill passed the House by a vote of 323-95 on Feb. 24 and now goes to the U.S. Senate. The Oregon Senate passed Hass’ bill 28-2 on March 24. It now goes to the state House.

It’s easy to accuse both politicians of monkeying with minutiae while Rome burns. But what critics fail to grasp is that both Oregon lawmakers have tapped into an issue with incredible appeal.

“This is a mainstream sensibility,” says Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States and a close ally of Blumenauer’s. “We make the argument to all politicians that the public is with us on animal welfare. Opposition to animal cruelty is a universal value.”

For Pacelle and others, our treatment of animals is nothing less than a gauge of our commitment to basic decency.

But the most devoted animal lovers are divided on whether creatures like Al and Travis make good pets. Now Hass and Blumenauer have stirred that debate in Congress, in Salem, and in homes like Kellie Navarro’s.

When Navarro opens her door at the end of a gravel drive in the hills outside Rainier, Ore., a Maltese, four terriers and a Chihuahua scramble across the oak floor, yapping at her visitor.

A high-pitched cheeping, almost out of audible range, cuts above the squall. Riding atop one Yorkie’s back is T-Myrrha, a 6-inch monkey in a plastic diaper.

The cries the monkey makes once rang through the jungles of Costa Rica and Colombia. Today, cotton-top tamarins are endangered and more often found in captivity—like Navarro’s handsome 3,500-square-foot house.

Her house and 2-acre yard are also home to two Great Danes, a macaw, a cockatiel, a horse, two guinea pigs, a housecat, and a bobcat named Meerah who lives in a wire pen out back.

But T-Myrrha the monkey has a prized place.

She eats the same food Navarro eats, fed by Navarro’s hand. Navarro takes her everywhere in a tote bag, or riding between her breasts. They’re together 24 hours a day—T-Myrrha sleeps in an open box next to Navarro’s bed.

“I can’t say I love any animal more than another, but T-Myrrha is different,” says Navarro, who shares the home with her husband and 5-year-old daughter. “You feel a twinge in your chest, like the love for a child.”

Navarro says responsible owners should be allowed to keep wild animals. And several dozen Oregonians—in addition to researchers, breeders, dealers and exhibitors—take advantage of that right under current law.

Anyone in Oregon can own a wild animal—all it takes is a permit from the state Department of Agriculture that costs $50 to $300, depending on the animal. There are now 42 permits statewide, including Navarro’s, mostly for exotic cats, foxes and small monkeys. No one currently has a permit to keep a chimp or any other great ape.

Before the state issues a permit, a veterinarian makes sure the owner has an adequate enclosure. There’s a follow-up inspection every two years. Most owners follow the rules, and permits are rarely denied or revoked, says Bruce Pokarney, a state Department of Agriculture spokesman.

That would all change if Hass succeeds. Even in the midst of a recession, he says banning exotic pets is a worthy cause.

“Someday we’re going to be through this patch of weeds, and…I think it’s important for us to have worked on these [other] issues,” Hass says. “This is not a new issue, and it’s not a whimsical issue. We’re not talking about the state bird, here.”

If Hass’ bill passes, people who already own wild animals as pets could keep them. New permits would be available for six months after the bill takes effect. But after that, no new wild animals would be allowed. The ban would not affect zoos, researchers, breeders, dealers and exhibitors, who are licensed by the feds.

Many of Hass’ arguments are couched in poll-tested public-safety lingo. Cops don’t know what to do with a wild animal on the loose, he says, either before or after it’s caught. For neighbors and bystanders, the dangers include not just animal bites but the diseases they transmit.

Yet Hass is frustrated by a handful of owners who have blocked a ban in the past.

“They have successfully lobbied rural legislators about freedom and a way of life,” he says, “and I just don’t understand that.”

The controversy pits veterinarians and conservationists who support Hass’ bill against breeders and exhibitors who have spent years caring for—and making their living from—exotic animals.

His loudest opponent is Molly Schaefer, the breeder Hass grilled about her education. Owner of Jungle Fever Exotics in Salem, she declined to tell WW how many animals she keeps or what kind, saying she fears retaliation from animal-rights activists.

Schaefer says a ban would have little effect on her business. Only a handful of Oregon breeders sell their animals, she says, mainly to other federally licensed facilities that would not be affected by the ban.

In part, she says, she’s fighting to give wild animals the right to live in captivity.

“They try and make it sound like captivity is horrible for wild animals,” she says. “If you love animals, you wouldn’t want them to be in those circumstances in the wild.”

But Hass has some powerful names on his side.

Tony Vecchio, director of the Oregon Zoo, told the state Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources that wild animals in homes are often neglected.

“We get hundreds of calls every year from people who have gotten into something and they’re trying to get out of it,” he said. “They usually call us and try to sell us the animal. When I won’t buy it, then they try to donate it.”

Vecchio’s statement suggests there are many owners without permits. That was backed up by Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Lee Bartholomew, who told the Senate committee he knows of at least two dozen illegal owners in his Southern Oregon county alone.

Bartholomew told the committee stories of a rampaging capuchin monkey that jumped on a paperboy’s head, and a macaque monkey that ran into a man’s house and started going through his laundry.

“It bit him on the thigh, and we had to quarantine him and the monkey for six months for herpes,” Bartholomew said.

None of this holds much sway for Mike Daly, a former two-term Deschutes County commissioner who lost in last November’s election. His wife, Darlene, kept a capuchin monkey for 13 years.

“My wife was never blessed with children of her own. One time she was at a picnic, and there was a lady there with a capuchin monkey,” Daly says. “My wife fell in love with this little monkey, and she wanted to get one.”

After getting a state permit, the couple raised Andy like a child at their home in Redmond, dressing him in diapers and coveralls.

HUMANE SOCIETY PRESIDENT WAYNE PACELLE: “Opposition to animal cruelty is a universal value.”

“The monkey filled the void,” Daly says—until Andy died last September of a congenital heart defect. “There was a big hole,” Daly says. “My wife has hardly gotten over it.”

They’d like to buy a new capuchin, but Hass’ and Blumenauer’s bills would block their way. And standing in their corner is the biggest gorilla in the pack.

Behind both politicos’ efforts stands the Humane Society of the United States. With a $120 million annual budget and 11 million members—one in every 28 Americans—the HSUS is the titan of the animal-protection movement.

Not to be confused with the Oregon Humane Society, a separate organization, the HSUS and its Salem lobbyist, Kelly Peterson, are major backers of Hass’ ban—part of a national campaign to end exotic pet ownership.

About 30 states already have some sort of ban on wild and exotic pets. Along with the fight in Salem, the HSUS is pushing similar legislation in Connecticut and Missouri, tighter regulations in Delaware and Florida, and hybrid-wolf bans in Washington and Montana.

The HSUS has taken an aggressive stance in the five years since Pacelle took over as president. The first vegan to head the organization, he transformed a nonprofit known for helping dogs and cats into a savvy political machine that’s taken on the meatpacking industry and trophy hunters.

Pacelle has gone on the offensive against lawmakers deemed unfriendly to animals. HSUS spent $400,000 through an affiliate last fall on TV ads that helped defeat then-U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.), who was influential in killing bills aimed at commercial whaling and trophy hunting. Prior campaigns helped take out former U.S. Reps. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) and Chris John (D-La.) in his 2004 Senate bid.

At the same time, Pacelle has cultivated a working relationship with Blumenauer. In 2003, Blumenauer championed a failed bill to stop the processing of disabled cattle. Last year he pushed through legislation making dogfighting and cockfighting a federal crime—helped by former NFL star Michael Vick’s dog-fighting bust.

As a result, the Humane Society named Blumenauer its Humane Legislator of the Year for 2008. Pacelle has won a staunch ally on Capitol Hill, and Blumenauer makes headlines pushing bills with broad public appeal.

“We have a very good relationship with the congressman,” says Michael Markarian, executive vice president of HSUS. “He’s one of the best leaders on these issues.”

None of which is any comfort to Kirstine O’Dell. The 68-year-old retiree says she’s every bit the animal lover Hass and Blumenauer are. But that love is focused on a baby capuchin monkey named Princess Leia.

O’Dell says her husband started having an affair after she was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 years ago. So she kicked him out and found companionship with two capuchin monkeys named Yoda and Sam.

She gave them away after she became ill again. Six months ago, she felt better and bought Princess Leia for $8,500 from a dealer on the East Coast who shipped the newborn cross-country to O’Dell, who, coincidentally, also lives in Rainier.

Capuchins are larger than tamarins, growing up to 2 feet long, minus the tail. Made famous as organ-grinder monkeys, they’ve also been trained to aid paraplegics—microwaving food, opening bottles and helping them bathe.

Princess can be a handful.

“Mine knows how to turn the lights off and on. She also knows how to eat my plants,” O’Dell says. “If you put a diaper on her, she’s going to scream and yell and wrestle like any little kid would.”

But O’Dell says their bond is growing. They eat together at the same table and even sleep in the same bed.

“If you cry, she’ll put her little arms around you and cry too,” O’Dell says. “I don’t know hardly anybody that has one of these that is just not totally devoted to them. You either love them or you don’t. There is no in-between.”

If Hass’ ban passes, violators would be forced to give up their animals and could face civil penalties, including fines determined on a case-by-case basis.

Multnomah County outlawed exotic pet ownership in 1997 after neighbors complained about a Southwest Portland man who let his pet Siberian tiger named Kulia roam outside of its cage in his back yard, in violation of his state permit.

State law defines exotic animals as big cats, nonhuman primates, wolves, other non-domestic canines, and all bears except black bears. Hass’ ban would add alligators and crocodiles to the list.

U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) spoke against Blumenauer’s bill on the House floor. “Just to clear the deck and make sure that everything is up front, I own no monkeys,” Bishop said. “I am annoyed by rally monkeys at [baseball] games. Other than that, there is no personal interest here.”

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Humane Society contacts Research Center

LAFAYETTE — The Humane Society of the United States made its first direct contact with the New Iberia Research Center on Thursday, a week after the society’s release of video footage that allegedly documents the center’s mistreatment of research monkeys and chimpanzees.

In a letter to the center’s director, Thomas J. Rowell, the Humane Society called for the retirement of 26 of the center’s “elderly” chimps to a sanctuary.

The same request was issued by the agency last week during a news conference and the news release was forwarded to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which operates the center.

The university did not issue an immediate response to the retirement request, but issued a statement by e-mail Thursday.

“The university continues to be concerned about the Humane Society’s use of press releases as its form of communication instead of communicating directly with the research center,” the university’s statement read. “After the research center has had an opportunity to review and evaluate the HSUS’ request, it will issue an appropriate response.”

Last week, footage of the Humane Society’s nine-month undercover investigation at the center was aired on ABC’s Nightline. It also became the launching pad for the Humane Society’s announcement of proposed federal legislation that would phase out chimps as invasive research subjects in the U.S.

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Humane Society's Letter To The Governor of Mo-Breeding Chimpanzees, Connie Casey Braun

March 2, 2009
The Honorable Jeremiah W. Nixon
Governor of Missouri
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Dear Governor Nixon:
On behalf of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and our 11 million members and
supporters, 190,000 of whom are Missouri residents, I urge you to take action to halt the private
ownership of dangerous exotic animals in the state. The latest serious incident, in which a
chimpanzee named Travis mauled a Connecticut woman beyond recognition, and then was shot
and killed by police, is yet another reminder of the hazards of keeping wild animals as pets.
Travis was born in Festus, Mo. at The Missouri Primate Foundation, otherwise known as
Chimparty. This facility, owned by Connie Braun‐Casey, breeds infant chimpanzees, removes
them from their mothers and sells them to individuals willing to pay the right price, or uses
them in entertainment.
Keeping chimpanzees and other primates as pets is detrimental to them and also dangerous for
people. Along with the risk of injury, primates can transmit deadly diseases. Macaque monkeys,
for example, typically carry Herpes B virus, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
research concludes the disease risk makes macaques unsuitable as pets. Professionals at zoos
and research facilities minimize contact with these animals, particularly following the 1997
death of a researcher after biologic matter from a macaque splashed into her eye. Yet pet
owners take them to the park. In 2007, a woman brought a pet macaque monkey to a
Columbia, Mo. park, and the monkey bit two children.
The public health and safety risks were recognized by the Missouri Department of Health and
Senior Services in its October 6, 2006, Health Advisory, “Dangers Associated with Keeping
Primates as Pets.” (http://www.dhss.mo.gov/BT_Response/HAdPrimates10‐6‐06.pdf)
Missouri is a major source of exotic animals, significantly contributing to the national problem.
We have been told that Chimparty may have sold as many as 50 infant chimpanzees to people
across the country. The state also is home to some of the largest exotic animal auctions. This
week the New York Times published an article about people with primates as pets, highlighting
some of the dangers and difficulties. One example was a man who keeps a baboon as a pet; the
animal came from a Missouri dealer. (www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/garden/26primates.html)
March 2, 2009
Page 2
As you may know, Travis’ mother, Suzy, was shot and killed when she escaped from Chimparty
in 2001. It has been reported that two other chimpanzees they sold as pets to a woman in
Montana were on the loose and attacked a neighbor a few months ago. One of Chimparty’s
recent infant sales was to Monkeys and More in Illinois, which takes the animals to schools and
other venues for children.
(http://www.edandannettesmonkeysandmore.com/blank?pageid=13&catstart=0&prodstart=0)
Once chimpanzees reach sexual maturity, they have the strength of several adult humans, and
must be kept in sturdy, escape‐proof confinement – an infrastructure investment many private
pet owners cannot make. Pet owners also cannot meet the complex physical and social needs of
these animals. In November 2008, an emaciated chimpanzee was reportedly removed from a
Texas home suffering from a deformed spine from lack of proper nutrition and sunshine. He was
found alone in a cage littered with cigarette butts and trash.
At least 20 states prohibit keeping primates as pets, and The Humane Society of the United
States is supporting federal legislation, the Captive Primate Safety Act (S. 462/H.R. 80), to
prohibit interstate commerce in primates for private ownership as pets. The bill passed the U.S.
House of Representatives by an overwhelming 323 to 95 majority, and now moves to the Senate
for consideration.
We hope that, as Governor of a state from which many infant chimpanzees and exotic animals
are sold, you will take action to prohibit future acquisitions of primates and other dangerous
wild animals as pets in the state.
We would be glad to work with you in developing and drafting such rules.
Sincerely yours,
Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO

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Lawsuit Against the USDA- Inspection Reports of Government labs

Posted by Jef Akst from thescientist.com

[Entry posted at 6th July 2009 03:37 PM GMT]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) must post annual reports from animal research facilities that document the levels of pain and distress experienced by animals in experimental procedures, according to a court settlement last week (July 1) of a lawsuit between the USDA and The Humane Society of the United States. "We have been taking a variety of steps to increase transparency on a number of issues, [and] the agreement we reached with the Human Society is consistent with that," said USDA spokesperson Andrea McNally. According to the Humane Society, the USDA stopped posting the annual reports, required by the Animal Welfare Act, around the end of 2001. When the USDA failed to provide copies of the reports requested by the Human Society (in the form of Freedom of Information Act requests), the Humane Society filed charges in 2005. Since then, the USDA has been posting some of the reports, but the settlement makes the action mandatory. Under the settlement agreement, the USDA must also make clear which institutions have failed to submit them. In addition, the USDA must continue to look for several documents that are still missing, and report back to the Humane Society with the results of the search. "It became very clear that there isn't a very good system for keeping track of these documents," said Kathleen Conlee, Director of Program Management for Animal Research Issues of the Humane Society. "We're hoping that as a result of this suit, they [will develop] a better system." The "open policy" regarding the oversight of animal laboratories enforced by this settlement "will help educate the public and advance human health research," Thomas Rowell, director of the New Iberia Research Center of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, wrote in an email to The Scientist. (Earlier this year, that facility was cited for Animal Welfare Act violations in regard to its care of primates.) But David Jentsch, a neuropsychopharmacologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who organized a pro-research rally in April after being targeted by animal rights activists, warned that such information is not always used to honestly inform the public. "I think one's reaction has to fit the complexity of the issue," Jentsch said. "I'm all in favor of being as transparent as possible, and encouraging the USDA to do that as well, [but this information is often used] for making fallacious claims and harassing scientists." " Source

Humane Society, USDA-Iberia Research Center

Martin Stephens, The Humane Society of the United States' vice president for animal research issues, released the following in response to the results of a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's New Iberia Research Center:

"We appreciate the administration's preliminary response to our complaint and the USDA's inspection of New Iberia Research Center so soon after our investigation. The USDA's previous inspection, in September 2008, had revealed none of the long-standing problems that the agency's latest inspection and our undercover investigation turned up.

"It should not have taken an undercover investigation to prove that chimpanzees and other primates at New Iberia were suffering from chronic psychological distress, self-mutilation, neglect and boredom. We look forward to USDA's evaluation and assessment of our findings, and to working with the agency on ensuring adequate enforcement of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

"The USDA must ensure that NIRC stops violating federal law and send the strongest possible message to the other facilities conducting animal research that it will not accept shoddy animal care practices. If NIRC, getting millions of our taxpayer dollars, can't follow the minimum standards prescribed by federal law, then the USDA should level a stiff fine and the NIH should not be funding it."

"The HSUS urges Congress to pass the Great Ape Protection Act to phase out invasive research on the chimpanzees remaining in laboratories, retire the approximately 500 federally-owned chimpanzees to permanent sanctuary, and make statutory the recent decision by the National Center for Research Resources (part of the National Institutes of Health) to stop funding the breeding of federally-owned chimpanzees.""

Source

Police Believe Xanax Linked to Chimp Attack, Sandra Herold

Video
"Police Believe Xanax and drug link to Chimp rambage Special report"

The Humane Society, Chimpanzee Retirement

The Humane Society of the United States is committed to the retirement of laboratory chimpanzees. Currently, there are more than 1,000 of these great apes in labs across the United States, some of whom are used in invasive research, such as infectious disease testing (for hepatitis, in particular), HIV research, spinal and brain injury research, and toxicity testing. Many of the chimpanzees, however, are simply being warehoused in laboratories.

Given the surplus of chimpanzees in laboratories, the National Institutes of Health, which owns the title to many of these research chimps, projects the divestiture of a large proportion of the chimpanzees from laboratories in the near future.

In 2000, The HSUS worked with members of the animal protection, sanctuary, and animal research communities to secure passage of the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection (CHIMP) Act. The CHIMP Act establishes a national sanctuary system for those chimpanzees who have provided long service in laboratories, enduring sometimes painful and distressing experimental procedures. The sanctuary system will provide the chimpanzees lifetime care in social groups and in a naturalistic environment, a vast improvement over the housing conditions in which the chimpanzees are currently living.

The CHIMP Act was championed by Senators Bob Smith (R-NH) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Jim Greenwood (R-PA). Former House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-VA) required certain controversial amendments before he would allow the bill to advance to the House floor. The Bliley amendments provided for the possibility of limited access to a sanctuary chimpanzee if proposed research met several criteria. However, in August 2007 a bill was introduced by Representative Jim McCrery and Senator Richard Burr to remove the Bliley amendments and ensure permanent retirement for chimpanzees in the federal sanctuary system. This bill was signed into law by President Bush on Dec. 26, 2007.

On Sept. 30, 2002, the National Institutes of Health announced the award of a contract to Chimp Haven (located in Shreveport, Louisiana) for the establishment and operation of the sanctuary system. The grand opening of Chimp Haven was on Oct. 28, 2005. By the end of 2007, there were more than 120 chimpanzees at Chimp Haven. Eventually, the 200-acre Shreveport location will house up to 300 chimpanzees. Chimp Haven hopes to have a system of chimpanzee sanctuaries in order to house even more retired laboratory chimpanzees, as well as chimpanzees retired from the entertainment industry and former pet chimpanzees. The government contract with Chimp Haven indicates the ability of the system to ultimately hold up to 900 chimpanzees.

In March of 2005, The HSUS submitted joint comments to the National Institutes of Health on the proposed standards of care for chimpanzees in the federally funded sanctuary system in response to a Federal Register Notice. The comments included a variety of suggestions on topics such as veterinary care, food, housing, enrichment, and consideration for chimpanzees with unique or special circumstances (such as aged chimpanzees). Submitted comments will be considered for the development and adoption of standards of care for chimpanzees held in the sanctuary system.

See the Chimpanzee Sanctuary page for a timeline of events pertaining to the CHIMP Act.

Updated Jan. 27, 2008.

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Reports on NIRC Lab

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued several recommendations on how it believes conditions and activites can be improved at UL’s New Iberia Research Center.

A team of four USDA inspectors visited NIRC on March 17, after the Humane Society of the United States called for an investigation into the center.

A USDA report on the visit listed the following findings:

There was not a standard operating procedure in place regarding injecting animals with a dart, or enough documentation to allow the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee review such procedures.

There was not a standard operating procedure in place to acclimdate animals to pole-and-collar procedures.

There was not someone monitoring animals that had been sedated because of medical treatment.

There were concerns about transporting chimpanzees from their primary enclosures by grabbing them on all four limbs.

There were some primates with abnormally short tails that had been amputed because of trauma or frostbite.

There was not enough documentation about animals being housed alone while they are under study.

NIRC Director Thomas Rowell said the center has already addressed some of the issues raised in the report and continues to evaluate its operating procedures to make further improvements.

For more on this story, see Wednesday’s edition of The Daily Advertiser."

Source
Video of Abuse

USDA VS Humane Society , Abusive Video

Animal mistreatment alleged by the Humane Society was not cited by federal inspectors during their visit to the New Iberia Research Center last month, according to a USDA report.

U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors, however, found six areas of non-compliance with the Animal Welfare Act and set deadlines for corrective action.

USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack promised the investigation in March after the release of video shot by a Humane Society investigator, who worked undercover at the center for nine months in 2008.

The Humane Society of the United States had submitted a 108-page document with 338 complaints, alleging animal mistreatment and violations of the Animal Welfare Act based on the video.

The NIRC houses the nation’s largest number of chimpanzees used for biomedical research. It houses more than 300 chimps and more than 6,000 various types of primates. It is a research center for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

While the inspection report does not specifically cite the Humane Society allegations, its recommendations are reflective of videoed incidents.

The research center’s director, Dr. Jeff Rowell, said some of the issues are already being addressed, such as the way sedated animals are handled by “all four limbs” and carried to a transport vehicle.

The practice presents a risk of injury to the animal, according to the USDA report, which also cites the “possibility of injury caused by the primate falling off of an unsecured table” — an event captured in the video.

“The methods used must ensure that there is a reduced possibility of injury to the animal,” the report stated.

Rowell said that prior to the report, at ULL President Joe Savoie’s suggestion, the center revised its procedures and now uses special boards to lift animals onto a railed gurney and will soon implement other safeguards.

Rowell said the center has also already addressed its non-compliance for not properly monitoring three sedated primates.

“We revised our standard operating procedure so that an attendant is on site during recovery from anesthesia,” Rowell said.

The center has yet to see a copy of the Humane Society’s complaints and Rowell said it’s unlikely that the center will be privy to the USDA’s response."

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