Newberry ’13 distributes petiton on animal rights, responding to rat treatment

A psychology concentrator circulated a petition last week calling on the University and other institutions to “increase the standard of treatment of lab animals.” This represents the latest incident of public outcry following allegations that University staffers mistreated primates and rats.

In an email sent to members of the Butler Buzz listserv on Dec. 8, Mel Newbery ’13 asked students to add their names to a petition about animal mistreatment. The actual petition, including a number of signers, was not available and Newbery did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua previously stated that the University has been strengthening its oversight of animal research and that it takes all allegations seriously, but the petition email was sent the same day that an animal rights organization, Stop Animal Exploitation Now!, accused University researchers of not providing rats with food or water for several days, leading to the death of at least 10 rats.

Last Friday, SAEN also organized a protest at the corner of Washington Road and Nassau Street.

Additionally, a commercial detailing the University’s recent alleged misconduct with nonhuman primate testing began airing in November on major networks including CNN, Fox and Animal Planet, which urged viewers to call President Shirley Tilghman and demand an end to the alleged abuse.

The University has been accused of animal testing misconduct multiple times this year. Past inspection reports by the USDA show that the University received six violations in 2011 and 11 in 2010. This past June, the USDA also sent a formal warning to the University threatening that each additional violation would incur a fine of $3,750.

The University was also ranked second-worst among Ivy League schools for its treatment of animals by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and was ranked third-worst for treatment among primate labs by SAEN.