PETA Files NIH Complaint Against Two University of Oklahoma Branches After ‘Critical’ USDA Citations

For Immediate Release:
August 11, 2023

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding the citations posted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture against the University of Oklahoma–Norman and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center for their violations of federal animal welfare regulations:

These latest “[c]ritical” federal citations against two branches of the University of Oklahoma show that animals caged there have as much to fear from the incompetence and negligence of laboratory staff as they do from the pointless experiments conducted there, underlining why the university doesn’t deserve another red cent of taxpayer money. PETA filed a complaint with the National Institutes of Health, calling on the agency to investigate and sanction the institutions.

According to a just-posted inspection report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a rabbit’s leg was so badly damaged after becoming trapped in a pen during “exercise time” that the animal had to be euthanized and 20 chinchillas endured post-surgery pain because staff didn’t bother to give them pain relief medication—for two months.

The University of Oklahoma should redirect its resources toward modern, non-animal research methods that will actually help humans, and we urge officials there to adopt PETA’s Research Modernization Deal.

For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.