Humane Society says report shows need for legislation
March 09, 2015 |03:12 PM
Humane Society of the United States President Wayne Pacelle said in a blog post today that the Agriculture Department panel’s report on the U.S. Animal Meat Research Center in Nebraska was “disappointing” and “anything but exhaustive.”
Wayne Pacelle
Pacelle has said that the USDA investigation should have dealt with past abuses, although USDA has said that its inspector general will study those issues separately.
Pacelle was also critical of the way that the USDA-appointed panel went about its work
“What was needed was not a white-glove tour, but a forensic look into how appalling abuses were allowed to occur at the center and others like it, and whether the leadership and the researchers who abused animals there should be retained,” Pacelle wrote.
“The USDA has promised there will be a phase two examination of all farm animal research conducted by the Agricultural Research Service, based on visits to three to five other federally-funded facilities,” he said.
“We hope that during those visits the USDA will conduct more rigorous unannounced inspections, and take a serious look at the value and animal care at every one of the estimated 40 ARS facilities conducting experiments on farm animals.”
Kathleen Conlee
The Humane Society said the recommendations in the report vindicated the whistleblowers who had spoken out about conditions at the center and that Congress should pass legislation to protect the animals used in research.
“The recommendations certainly reflect the root problems indicated by the multiple whistleblowers who spoke out against the center, including woefully inadequate Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee; the need for a formal training process and whistleblower policy and unclear lines of authority regarding animal welfare between USMARC and University of Nebraska-Lincoln,” Kathleen Conlee, the vice president for animal research issues for the Humane Society of the United States said in an email to The Hagstrom Report.
“One site visit likely wouldn’t reveal years of problems at the facility, but we are hopeful that the spotlight will lead to significant changes and we would like to see the recommendations provided in the report implemented quickly,” Conlee added.
“These recommendations and USDA’s apparent denial of problems at its own facility shows that there is still a strong need for the AWARE (Animal Welfare in Agricultural Research Endeavors) Act to ensure that federal facilities are legally required to follow the Animal Welfare Act,” Conlee said.
The AWARE Act has been introduced in the House by Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and in the Senate by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
Pacelle has said that the USDA investigation should have dealt with past abuses, although USDA has said that its inspector general will study those issues separately.
Pacelle was also critical of the way that the USDA-appointed panel went about its work
“What was needed was not a white-glove tour, but a forensic look into how appalling abuses were allowed to occur at the center and others like it, and whether the leadership and the researchers who abused animals there should be retained,” Pacelle wrote.
“The USDA has promised there will be a phase two examination of all farm animal research conducted by the Agricultural Research Service, based on visits to three to five other federally-funded facilities,” he said.
“We hope that during those visits the USDA will conduct more rigorous unannounced inspections, and take a serious look at the value and animal care at every one of the estimated 40 ARS facilities conducting experiments on farm animals.”
The Humane Society said the recommendations in the report vindicated the whistleblowers who had spoken out about conditions at the center and that Congress should pass legislation to protect the animals used in research.
“The recommendations certainly reflect the root problems indicated by the multiple whistleblowers who spoke out against the center, including woefully inadequate Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee; the need for a formal training process and whistleblower policy and unclear lines of authority regarding animal welfare between USMARC and University of Nebraska-Lincoln,” Kathleen Conlee, the vice president for animal research issues for the Humane Society of the United States said in an email to The Hagstrom Report.
“One site visit likely wouldn’t reveal years of problems at the facility, but we are hopeful that the spotlight will lead to significant changes and we would like to see the recommendations provided in the report implemented quickly,” Conlee added.
“These recommendations and USDA’s apparent denial of problems at its own facility shows that there is still a strong need for the AWARE (Animal Welfare in Agricultural Research Endeavors) Act to ensure that federal facilities are legally required to follow the Animal Welfare Act,” Conlee said.
The AWARE Act has been introduced in the House by Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and in the Senate by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
