IMPORTANT: LETTERS TO USDA

[Guest guest]

Dear Activists for Animals: If anyone has written (within the past year) to the USDA regarding UCSF's care/use of animals in its research facilities, especially in relation to the article - "Conditions for Monkeys in UCSF Labs," from Vigil for Animals' newsletter "FIRST, DO NO HARM" (August 2006) - PLEASE, send me a copy of your letter, as well as any response from the USDA. I am trying to keep track of any letters to the USDA (and responses) and would deeply appreciate it. My address follows: Bob O'Brien, 311 - 11th Avenue, #15, San Francisco, CA 94118 If you have not written to the USDA, and would like to, please read (below) "Conditions for Monkeys in UCSF Labs" and write a letter as the article suggests. ------------------------ Conditions for Monkeys in UCSF Labs The prevailing caging conditions for monkeys held for use in lab experiments at UCSF are not clear. UCSF's Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) on environmental enrichments for nonhuman primates are vaguely expressed. For example, UCSF's SOP (dated 7/16/03) states "all primate cages should contain at least one perch (elevated resting area) where possible [emphasis added]." Further, "food treats...may [emphasis added] include...dried or fresh fruits and vegetables." In July 2006 a request was made for a more current SOP, with no response from UCSF to this date (8/23/06) [and still no

intelligible response from UCSF as of 1/3/07]. And last February a request was made for information on environmental enhancements for monkeys held for use in two UCSF research projects, still with no answer. In recent correspondence with Dr. Viktor Reinhardt, he stated that pair-housing had become a standard arrangement for macaques in the USA over the past two to four years. However, he had no knowledge of the current conditions under which monkeys are kept at UCSF. Nor do we, the authors of this newsletter, have such knowledge - much because of UCSF's prohibition of public access to facilities that house or use animals, as well as UCSF's poor response to public inquiries. If you care for the well-being of the estimated two hundred monkeys incarcerated

at UCSF, please contact the USDA to request an investigation. Ask that the USDA more effectively enforce the Animal Welfare Act's "Specifications for the Humane Handling, Care and Treatment of Nonhuman Primates." Rules and regulations are meaningless unless they are actually followed! You may address your letter to: Dr. Robert Gibbens, Supervisor USDA-Animal Care 2150 Centre Ave, Bldg B, MS 3W11 Fort Collins, CO 80526 _________ For more information about the caging/care of monkeys in research facilities: The Animal Welfare Institute has published the

book "Environmental Enrichment for Caged Rhesus Macaques - A Photographic Documentation and Literature Review" by Viktor and Annie Reinhardt. You may order a free copy of it by e-mail to viktor or view it at www.awionline.org/lab_animals/rhesus/photo.htm. Also see: www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/primates/primate.htm www.awionline.org/lab_animals/biblio/index.html www.awionline.org/lab_animals/biblio/enrich.htm Also you may request a copy of the newsletter "First, Do No Harm" (August 2006), which includes a reprint of Dr. Viktor Reinhardt's article "The Impossible Housing and Handling Conditions of Monkeys in Research Laboratories." To receive the August newsletter, please send a stamped self-addressed envelope to me (Bob O'Brien) at 311 - 11th Avenue, #15, San Francisco, CA 94118. Bob O'Brien Do You

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