An animal rights group has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the deaths of three monkeys this summer at a University of Wisconsin-Madison research center.

Lori Nitzel, director of the Alliance for Animals, wrote the formal complaint in the deaths of three marmosets at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center.

Joseph Kemnitz, the center's director, confirmed that the three animals were killed after being left in a cage as it was being sanitized at the research center in mid-July.  "It was a terrible accident," Kemnitz said. "Probably the animals died of the heat exposure. It was probably a very quick death."

But Nitzel saw the incident differently.

"This appears to be a case of gross negligence and suggests that the operating procedures and training of staff at WNPRC are insufficient to assure compliance with the animal welfare act," she wrote.

Kemnitz said the incident happened during a cage-washing process.

During that process, the primates are generally moved into a nesting box and that box is transferred to a clean cage into which the animals are released, he said. The doors are then removed from the dirty box and put into the dirty cage, which is taken to the washer, he added.

Kemnitz said he believes the caretaker was distracted while transferring the animals. The monkeys were not removed from the box, and when the dirty cage was wheeled to the cage wash area, the doors to the box were not removed, he said.  "The employees who were responsible were extremely distraught," he said.

Nitzel said the center needs to reassess its policies and procedures.

"What's in place now is obviously inadequate," she said.

Update 8/09:  UW-Madison researchers violated state law when 26 sheep died in experiments on decompression sickness, but Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard won't prosecute the university because the infraction is relatively minor, he wrote in an opinion.

The university stopped conducting the pressure chamber experiments in August, when Madison-based Alliance for Animals asked for a legal review of them, said Eric Sandgren, who oversees animal research at UW-Madison.

"We're trying to decide now that we have this information how to proceed," Sandgren said. "Until we agree as a university how to move forward, we're not going to do any more."

Blanchard found that UW-Madison was violating a state statute that forbids anyone to "kill an animal by means of decompression," but that it didn't violate criminal law because the sheep weren't killed "intentionally or negligently."

"So what's the point of having the laws that do these things if the district attorney isn't going to prosecute?" asked Rick Bogle of Alliance for Animals. "We're talking about animals really dying in excruciating pain."

UW-Madison has conducted studies with sheep for the last three decades in an effort to prevent incidents of "the bends," or injuries among divers as they ascend from high pressure environments.

In the studies, sheep are placed in a hyperbaric chamber and then subjected to increased atmospheric pressure, followed by decreased pressure, to simulate a quick ascent. Sheep are used because they have similar respiratory systems to humans.

The studies are funded by the U.S. Navy and other federal and state agencies. UW-Madison is one of three main sites where such research is conducted, Sandgren said.  "They've made important discoveries that are used now, that are applied, in the case of individual diving sicknesses," he said.

Over the past 10 years, three sheep out of 303 have died in a hyperbaric chamber and 23 sheep have died unexpectedly within 24 hours of being removed.

The research has been published openly and was approved by the university's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

In a letter to Blanchard, UW-Madison attorney Ben Griffiths argued the state statute is intended to prohibit the use of decompression as a method of euthanizing animals, which was once used to kill stray or abandoned animals.  That has not occurred in the research studies at issue, he wrote.

State law prohibits animal cruelty, but offers an exception in the case of scientific research.  But, Blanchard said, that statute does not apply in this case because the state has a specific provision outlawing decompression deaths.

Blanchard said it would not be a "wise use of resources" for his office to pursue legal action against the university for each sheep death.  If he were to prosecute the university, it would be for a civil penalty, called a forfeiture, of a maximum fine of $500.  Blanchard suggests that the university seek new legislation to add a research exclusion to the decompression statute, which is the model in Alaska and Indiana.

Sandgren said the university is considering that option, but it "would take a long time," which could put the research at risk.

Update 12/31/09:  Depressed and vomiting dogs, a dirty operating room and expired medications were among 20 violations found at UW-Madison by federal animal welfare inspectors during a surprise visit in November.

  (Photo courtesy of Jeff Miller/UW-Madison)  UW-Madison must fix the problems noted in the report, which was released this week, or risk losing some $200 to $300 million in annual animal research funding, said Eric Sandgren, the university's head of animal research oversight.

Sandgren said that when he got the 10-page report, "my stomach just went clunk."  "I'm not at all happy with the things listed there," he said. "That's just not acceptable."

The report was released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Inspectors from another federal agency, the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, also visited. The two agencies enforce animal welfare law.

Investigators told Sandgren that the university is not likely to be fined for any of the offenses. University officials are working to fix the violations and prevent new ones, Sandgren said.

One major finding is that in five studies, UW-Madison researchers did not show that they tried to find an alternative to painful experiments on animals.

"Even if you believe animal research is worthwhile, I think most people believe it should be done in the most humane way possible," said Rick Bogle, co-director of the Madison-based Alliance for Animals, an animal rights group. "And this says that it is not being done that way at all."

But Sandgren said the issue is how researchers fill out the application to conduct animal research. He said the university will ask scientists to more specifically document their attempts to conduct less painful procedures.

Three dogs were observed suffering following operations, according to the report. Two were vomiting, depressed and not producing urine. The dogs were part of a study to find ways to preserve kidneys longer before they are transplanted.

The inspectors said the university needs to do a better job of alerting the attending veterinarian to changes in the dogs' conditions.  Sandgren said lab animal veterinarians now will be called ahead of time to let them know when these surgeries will occur.

The report also found a slippery floor that caused a pig to repeatedly fall down, a gerbil that was struggling to breathe, thick layers of dust on air vents, open supplies of primate food, a rusty IV stand and shelves in an operating room, and a strong smell of urine in a dog room.

"When this happens, it's a little nerve-wracking," Sandgren said. "But it's also a good thing. It helps us do things better."

UW-Madison conducts hundreds of studies in 52 animal facilities and spends $25 million per year in animal care, Sandgren said.

USDA inspects UW-Madison annually, but a visit from the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, is rare.

"OLAW does not visit institutions routinely," said spokesman Don Ralbovsky. He said the agency "investigates all allegations involving animal welfare that are brought to its attention."

Ralbovsky would not say whether the visit was sparked by an allegation.

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