Humane Society Cites Abuses at University of Minnesota

Ugh. All this stuff makes me sick. Don't give me that slop about universities being better than corporations. I don't care if they're supposedly working for altruistic purposes (they're not, but that's another story), they are allowing animals to suffer through negligent care separate from the excruciating experiments they must still undergo.

What BS.

(Media-Newswire.com) - The Humane Society of the United States has obtained government reports showing that the University of Minnesota has violated federal standards of care for animals in laboratories. Violations included failing to properly administer pain-relieving medicine, failing to provide adequate veterinary care and failing to properly euthanize animals. The improperly euthanized animals remained alive but were discarded as if they were dead.

The HSUS learned of the violations through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's online inspection reports and documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request to the National Institutes of Health's Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare.

"The public doesn't want animals to suffer gratuitously in research laboratories," said Martin Stephens, Ph.D., vice president of animal research issues for The HSUS. "University of Minnesota should publicly affirm its commitment to minimizing the suffering of animals in its research labs."