Repeat Violations Prompt PETA to Call For an End to Baboon Pregnancy Experiments at Eastern Virginia Medical School

For Immediate Release:
July 10, 2023

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna regarding the just-posted citation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Eastern Virginia Medical School for repeat violations of federal animal welfare regulations during an ongoing experiment, resulting in the suffering of baboons:

Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) has once again violated federal animal protection laws in horrendous baboon pregnancy experiments, and this time, the study should be stopped. In less than two years, EVMS has amassed four critical violations for its neglect and mistreatment of animals. PETA rushed a letter to the school’s oversight committee today urging that the lab be shut down.

In a report posted today, U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors found that experimenters had sedated and taken blood too often—daily for some periods—from a 17-year-old baboon named Alissa and from a 16-year-old baboon named Jemma, who was also given an experimental drug and later found unresponsive in her cage. There was no indication that she had received any treatment as required.

EVMS received $31.2 million from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2021 and more than $7 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) last year. PETA previously filed a formal complaint with NIH, calling on the agency to turn off the money spigot to the school.

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