|
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS LEADING TO MULTIPLE COUNTS OF CRIMINAL ANIMAL
CRUELTY FILED AGAINST THE NIH'S "ALAMOGORDO PRIMATE FACILITY"
OPERATOR
Prepared by In Defense of Animals /
September 7th, 2004
1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| 10 | 11
| 12
| 13
| 14
| 15
| 16
| 17
| 18
| 19
| 20
10 
May 4, 2001 - In a letter (Intramural)
incorporating the April 20 Memorandum of Understanding, the NIH further states that it will be responsible for the APF's compliance with federal and state laws; this would include the New Mexico cruelty to animals statute. The NIH says that the APF will be an intramural NIH lab, meaning that it is essentially a satellite facility of the NIH. It will be considered a "government-owned, contractor-operated" (GOCO) lab.
Because the APF is an intramural NIH site, it is defined as a "federal research facility" under Section 2143(b) of the federal Animal Welfare Act, (even though research will be conducted there). Consequently, the USDA has no jurisdiction over the APF. Therefore, responsibility for compliance with the Animal Welfare Act at the Alamogordo Primate Facility lies with the NIH.
May 15, 2001 - The NIH awards Charles River Laboratories, Inc. a $42.8 million, ten-year contract to operate the APF. In its technical proposal
(Technical Proposal), CRL states that its principal investigator on the contract, Dr. Rick Lee - formerly a veterinarian at the NIH-funded University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center-Bastrop chimpanzee facility - is "recognized" as "one of the world's leading authorities on provision of veterinary health care to chimpanzees," a "leading mentor of chimpanzee veterinarians," and "a leading chimpanzee researcher and clinician with numerous publications and grants in these fields." CRL notes that Dr. Lee has "provided formal training in great ape medicine to 14 veterinarians" at the NIH-funded University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center-Bastrop, and will be responsible for "ensuring that all of the animals [at the APF] receive clinical care according to the highest current standards."
Dr. Lee's well-regarded status in the biomedical research community is further illustrated by the fact that both AAALAC and the USDA picked him to help review the animal care program of The Coulston Foundation in April 2000, as part of the USDA-mandated "External Review Team." Less than a year later, in January 2001, 42 rhesus monkeys overheated to death at Bastrop during Lee's tenure there (the USDA will not fine or otherwise take any action against Bastrop).
10
1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| 10 | 11
| 12
| 13
| 14
| 15
| 16
| 17
| 18
| 19
| 20
|
