Feds Cite University of Washington Over Irradiated Monkey Death
Update (November 22, 2024): The feds have once again come down on the University of Washington for a litany of animal welfare violations at its primate center, including one committed by experimenter Fritzie Arce-McShane, who deliberately subjected a monkey to near-lethal radiation and then callously watched as he suffered.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture slapped the school with a citation for Arce-McShane’s “critical” violation of federal law, as well as for the cruelty of another experimenter who failed to give monkeys pain relief after invasive surgeries.
And there’s more. Staff negligence led to 20 monkeys imprisoned in cages exposed to blinding 24/7 lights for nine days. Two other monkeys escaped their cages, leading to fights that severely injured other animals.
PETA previously urged the school’s police chief and the King County prosecutor to investigate whether Arce-McShane violated anti-cruelty-to-animals laws. Neither has done anything, and Arce-McShane is presumably awaiting the green light to restart her radiation experiments. The University of Washington must stop shirking its responsibility and take decisive action to hold her accountable.
PETA strongly urges the university to ban Arce-McShane from having any contact with animals, now and forever. The university should end its unbroken streak of decades-long incompetence and indifference to animal suffering by closing down the Washington National Primate Research Center and switching to superior, non-animal research methods outlined in PETA’s Research Modernization Deal. You can help by taking action below.
Update (August 29, 2024): The University of Washington (UW) has decided to euthanize a monkey who, weeks after being irradiated nearly to death by UW experimenter Fritzie Arce-McShane, has lost all quality of life. Arce-McShane willfully and repeatedly violated her approved protocol and deceived veterinary staff. This decision follows PETA’s request to the university last week to stop the study. The other six monkeys in her laboratory are safe from her for now, as her use of monkeys is currently halted, but she can’t be trusted and should be barred permanently from having any contact with animals. UW can end the suffering of all the monkeys in its possession by closing down the Washington National Primate Research Center now. Take action below to help make that happen.
Originally published on August 21, 2024:
In a sickening display of apparent cruel indifference, a University of Washington experimenter went off script on an experiment, nearly irradiating a monkey to death. PETA now calls on school brass to sack her immediately.
Fritzie Arce-McShane, an experimenter in the UW School of Dentistry’s Department of Oral Health Sciences, irradiated an adult male macaque on three consecutive days each week for more than a month between mid-May and late June, ignoring stipulations that there should be a 48-hour recovery period between radiation exposures.
The radiation caused severe radiation toxicity, including discharge from the monkey’s eyes and nose; swelling of his face, eyelids, and lips; red, flaky skin; and loss of appetite. He was unable to fully open his mouth for several weeks.
After one round of radiation, the monkey had little appetite and grimaced even when eating soft foods. His symptoms continued for weeks.
Arce-McShane ignored the obvious suffering. The radiation continued from May 14 to June 26. She also failed to inform veterinary staff of her off-script protocol violations until the monkey’s life was in danger.
Arce-McShane eventually admitted her misconduct but blamed a wording inconsistency in the protocol, rather than acknowledging an obvious violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
The monkey has still not recovered fully.
PETA learned about Arce-McShane’s cruelty at the August 15 meeting of the school’s animal oversight committee, which decided to mete out a slap on the wrist to her. The committee is also considering letting her continue irradiating the monkey, despite her disregard for him, science, and the law.
The National Institutes of Health bankrolls Arce-McShane’s gruesome experiment, which supposedly examines how the macaque moves his jaw and tongue while eating.
What You Can Do
This is only the latest atrocity to take place at the UW’s Washington National Primate Research Center, which has a lengthy, yearslong rap sheet spanning the gamut of animal torment.
Please TAKE ACTION to help shut down the Washington National Primate Research Center:
