PETA Files NIH Complaint After Animals Starve to Death at University of Illinois-Chicago

For Immediate Release:
May 10, 2023

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement by PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna regarding a just-obtained federal report showing U.S. Department of Agriculture citations against the University of Illinois–Chicago (UIC) for critical violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act:

No animal is safe from incompetence and cruelty at UIC, which continues to rack up a horrific animal body count. Not one staffer noticed a malfunctioning water valve that caused a baboon to become so dehydrated that she was beyond medical help and had to be euthanized, and four mole rats were found starved to death in their cage, according to federal inspection reports.

It’s not the first time UIC has been found incapable of providing the animals in its laboratories with even the most basic protections stipulated by federal law. Experimenters previously put an electric space heater under an enclosure and slowly cooked four mole rats to death.

If these incidents had occurred outside a laboratory, the perpetrators would be facing felony cruelty-to-animals charges under Illinois state law. But because these perps wear white coats, they get off scot-free with fistfuls of tax dollars to continue their pointless experiments.

Last year, UIC raked in nearly $154 million in federal tax money, despite repeatedly proving that it’s incapable of complying or unwilling to comply with federal law. UIC should be defunded until it stops tormenting animals and commits to modern, animal-free science.

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.