UW Prof Burns, Sickens Monkey and Violates Regulation in Radiation Experiment; PETA Demands Her Dismissal

For Immediate Release:
August 21, 2024

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

PETA is calling on officials at the University of Washington (UW) to fire an experimenter who failed to follow her own experimental protocol and nearly killed a monkey with radiation.

At the university’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee meeting on August 15, it was revealed that a neuroscientist—identified by PETA as Fritzie Arce-McShane, an associate professor in the Department of Oral Health Sciences—radiated an adult male macaque on three consecutive days a week for more than a month between mid-May and late June, sickening him and blatantly ignoring the protocol’s requirement that there be a 48-hour recovery period between exposures.

The radiation, which Arce-McShane administered to the monkey without putting the required protective goggles on him, caused severe radiation toxicity, resulting in discharge from his eyes and nose; swelling of his face, including his eyelids and lips; red, flaky skin; and loss of appetite. Despite these clear signs of pain and distress, Arce-McShane continued her experiment and failed to inform veterinary staff about her misconduct until the monkey’s life was in danger. Eventually, she admitted that she had violated protocol but claimed it was due to a wording inconsistency in the protocol and wasn’t a violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

Despite Arce-McShane’s apparent disregard for the macaque, science, and the law—a violation that UW is required to report to federal officials—the oversight committee decided merely to reprimand her and could allow her to continue the irradiation experiment on the monkey.

“It’s shameful that after an experimenter violates her own protocol, tortures and nearly kills a monkey, and lies to the veterinary staff, the university’s oversight committee thinks a letter of reprimand is adequate,” says PETA primate scientist Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel. “UW must immediately dismiss Arce-McShane before she gets her hands on this desperately ill and abused monkey again and must retire him to an accredited sanctuary.”

The monkey, whose symptoms continued for weeks, still hasn’t recovered fully. If Arce-McShane is allowed to continue the experiment, the animal will be killed when she’s finished with him.

Arce-McShane’s gruesome experiments are funded by the National Institutes of Health. This is her first use of a monkey at UW, where she has been employed for nearly three years. This experiment examines how the macaque moves his jaw and tongue while eating.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.