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Feds Accuse Chimp-keepers

Copyright 2001 Albuquerque Journal (July 27)
By Rene Romo
Journal Southern Bureau

LAS CRUCES ... The U.S. Department of Agriculture has accused the Coulston Foundation, the embattled primate research facility in Alamogordo, of violating the Animal Welfare Act in the deaths of two chimps in 1999 and 2000.

Other allegations contained in a July 12 complaint from the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, include failing to employ an adequate number of qualified professional veterinary staff, failing to receive prior approval from an oversight committee for research, and violating terms of a 1999 consent decree with the USDA.

A $100,000 civil penalty assessed against the Coulston Foundation two years ago was held in abeyance on the condition the lab comply with the settlement.

Coulston Foundation spokesman Don McKinney said he could not comment on specific USDA allegations because the organization only recently received them and because "it is a quasi-judicial proceeding." However, McKinney said, "We will refute the charges and we believe we have the documentation to refute them."

The USDA complaint marks the fourth set of allegations that federal officials have filed against the Coulston Foundation for violations of the Animal Welfare Act since 1995.

In a news release, two anti-vivisection groups, California-based In Defense of Animals and Animal Protection of New Mexico, called for an immediate USDA takeover of the lab and the permanent retirement of the "more than 300 chimpanzees imprisoned there."

In June, In Defense of Animals accused Coulston of the negligent death of another chimp allegedly locked outdoors in scorching heat, an accusation Coulston denied.

One of the recent allegations stemmed from the death of a chimpanzee named Ray on Aug. 18, 2000. Ray was observed appearing ill and listless two days before his death, but the information allegedly was not passed on to an attending veterinarian. The chimp went untreated and died.

A second allegation arose from the alleged failure to "provide adequate veterinary care" to a 36-year-old chimpanzee, Donna, who died of a massive infection in November 1999. The lab's workers found the pregnant chimp was carrying a dead fetus on Oct. 27, 1999, but delayed surgery until Nov. 8, 1999, when Donna was found to have a ruptured uterus, severe peritonitis and necrotic, or dead, bowel.

The Coulston Foundation did not allow veterinarians to euthanize Donna when the severity of her condition was discovered. "The chimpanzee died several hours later and experienced severe pain before and after the surgery," the complaint said.

Besides running afoul of the Animal Welfare Act, the alleged acts violate the 1999 settlement with the USDA in which the Coulston Foundation agreed to divest itself of nearly half its then-600 chimpanzees by January 2002.

In June another company, the Charles River Corp., took over management of 287 chimpanzees that the Coulston Foundation previously oversaw on Holloman Air Force Base.

Coulston has 20 days from receipt of the USDA complaint to respond and, unless a settlement is reached, an administrative law judge will hold a hearing and could impose fines.

Laura Sanchez, a spokesman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said another settlement is "less likely" when a lab such as the Coulston Foundation is already accused of violating a settlement agreement.


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