By Patrick Cole - 2012-08-30T04:01:00Z

Harvard Medical School logged its latest lab-monkey death this past spring when a cotton-top tamarin monkey died of thirst for lack of a water bottle. Then 41 deer mice died in April at a Harvard facility after their water source got cut off.

As with the monkey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the countrys oldest institution of higher learning an official warning. In less than two years, four monkeys have died in Harvard labs, including one left in a cage as it went through a mechanical washer.

When you see multiple incidents at the same facility over a period of time, thats when you realize that this is indicative of a system-wide problem, said Michael Budkie, executive director of the nonprofit Stop Animal Exploitation Now!, in a phone interview.

The Milford, Ohio-based SAEN has placed Harvard on its top- 10 list of animal-welfare violators for the first half of 2012. The existence of enough violators to glean a top 10 helps indicate the scope of lab-animal abuse nationally.

The Animal Welfare Act, enforced by the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, requires labs to handle research animals as carefully as possible to prevent trauma, overheating, physical harm, behavioral stress or unnecessary discomfort.

TRS Labs Inc., based in Athens, Georgia, ranked first on SAENs list with 23 violations affecting about 70 animals, Budkie said. TRS was cited for housing cats in a room that was 88 to 89 degrees. It also failed to separate two gerbils that had been fighting in a cage and to protect dogs from suffering injuries, according to a USDA report.

Several calls to TRS executives seeking comment werent returned.

Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc. in California, which researches antibodies and animal health-care products, ranked second on the SAEN list with 11 citations affecting 85 animals. In April, an Aphis inspector found a goat with a broken leg whose cast had come off, according to the USDA report. The attending veterinarian said she didnt have time to attend to the goat because of her work load.

This facility was basically understaffed and it couldnt offer good care, Budkie said. Santa Cruz Biotechnology officials didnt respond to a request for comment.

See the rest here:

Harvard Dead Monkeys Make Top 10 List for Lab Violations