By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff <\/p>\n
A rhesus monkey escaped from its cage in late April at a Harvard Medical School animal research facility and injured a pig-tailed macaque while it roamed the room, according to a federal inspection report and a spokesman for the US Department of Agriculture. <\/p>\n
The May 16 inspection report, posted online Thursday by the agency, cites the school for directly harming or endangering an animal and states that staff had not latched the cage properly. <\/p>\n
The report says Harvard gave additional training to staff, and new procedures were put in place to prevent future problems. It said the injured monkey was recovering, but did not describe the extent of its injuries. <\/p>\n
The incident occurred at a primate research facility in Boston. It is just the latest incident at a Harvard Medical School research facility. Over the last two years, four monkey deaths related to problems in animal care have been cited by the USDA at the New England Primate Research Center, the institutions Southborough research facility. The school was also cited for a primate death due to an overdose of anesthesia at the Boston research facility last year. Harvard Medical School has now been cited for a total of eight separate instances of directly endangering animals health or welfare in two years. In comparison, there were 25 such direct noncompliance incidents at research facilities nationwide in fiscal year 2011, according to David Sacks, a spokesman for the USDA. <\/p>\n
The agency has been investigating other incidents at Harvard related to animal care, which could result in fines or warnings. Sacks said the agency plans to further investigate the new incident. <\/p>\n
In a statement, Harvard Medical School said the incident was self-reported. <\/p>\n
In keeping with our commitment to continuous quality improvement, we promptly conducted additional training of the laboratory staff and strengthened our procedures, the statement said. <\/p>\n
In an e-mail, Jeanne McVey, a spokeswoman for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said the direct noncompliance with animal welfare laws that Harvard was cited for was serious. She noted the inspection occurred weeks after the incident occurred, and at that time, according to the report, the monkey was responding well to treatment. <\/p>\n
That probably means the injured monkey was still recovering after over three weeks, McVey wrote. It was likely a pretty serious injury. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Follow this link: By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff A rhesus monkey escaped from its cage in late April at a Harvard Medical School animal research facility and injured a pig-tailed macaque while it roamed the room, according to a federal inspection report and a spokesman for the US Department of Agriculture. The May 16 inspection report, posted online Thursday by the agency, cites the school for directly harming or endangering an animal and states that staff had not latched the cage properly. Continue reading
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