University of Wisconsin–Madison Fined $35,000 for Laboratory Cruelty

March 2014

The U.S. Department of Agriculture fined the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW) more than $35,000—one of the largest fines assessed against a laboratory in history—for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. Among the seven violations mentioned by the USDA was one incident in which a cat named Broc was negligently and severely burned by UW staff during surgery. Broc’s burn was discovered during a USDA investigation of a complaint filed by PETA. Broc was being used in an inhumane brain experiment made infamous after PETA obtained and publicized graphic photographs taken by the UW experimenter.