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Date: 12/18/2023
AMHERST — An animal rights group is calling for a federal investigation into a University of Massachusetts Amherst laboratory where marmoset monkeys are being utilized in medical studies.
According to a Dec. 5 statement from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, documents obtained by the organization indicates a marmoset confined in the UMass Amherst lab of Professor Agnès Lacreuse escaped and injured another animal.
Lacreuse, whose research area is listed on the UMass Amherst website as behavioral neuroscience, “studies menopause using marmosets-even though the species doesn’t experience it,” according to the statement from PETA.
PETA also states that there have been multiple violations at the lab in addition to the marmoset’s escape, the fourth such occurrence in recent years and they want the U.S. Department of Agriculture to examine the laboratory.
“UMass is clearly incapable of keeping marmosets safe — even in the confines of a laboratory,” said PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Cases Dr. Alka Chandna. “PETA urges the USDA to investigate this latest incident along with its lengthy pattern of apparent negligence and take swift action.”
PETA also states the incident adds to an extensive list of previous animal welfare violations in Lacreuse’s laboratory.
“In a previous incident, a monkey escaped from a restraint device and his tail was injured so badly by a handler trying to recapture him that it required amputation,” the statement read. “In two other incidents in 2017 and 2018, monkeys escaped from transfer boxes and injured other monkeys. A monkey also died after being severely burned when workers left hand warmers on him while he recovered from surgery.”
In response, Ed Blaguszewski, executive director of strategic communications for UMass Amherst issued a statement answering PETA’s claims.
“Medical research has saved and improved the lives of millions of people and animals. Today’s medicines and surgical techniques would not have been discovered without a more comprehensive understanding of disease and the way the body works. That is the result of research programs at universities, hospitals and research facilities around the world, including UMass Amherst,” Blaguszewski wrote.
The statement also read that “UMass Amherst conducts research using animals to examine a wide range of health concerns,” and that animals are used in research when no better options exist.
“UMass Amherst has a commitment to care for laboratory animals that involves the highest ethical standards and rigorous attention and adherence to all applicable federal and state laws and guidelines.” Blaguszewski wrote.
Back in September, PETA conducted several days of action on the UMass campus to draw attention to the experiments involving the marmosets. Members handed out pamphlets, rallied outside buildings and drove a mobile billboard displaying laboratory images of the monkeys around the campus.