Lab gets a pass from USDA for boiling monkey to death

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SEATTLE -- It's official. Scalding a lab monkey to death in ahot-water rack-washer doesn't violate any federal animal welfare laws.That's the ruling from the U.S. Department of Agriculture following anexclusive KIRO Team 7 Investigation into the handling of primates atan Everett pharmaceutical testing facility.However, Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne discovered SNBL is stillunder USDA watch.USDA didn't issue any violations for the boiled monkey incident --case closed. However, newly released documents show that less than ayear before that fatal accident, the feds nailed SNBL with a massivefine for a series of unrelated, repeat animal care violations.The federal documents say two SNBL workers failed to do their jobswhen they left a healthy female macaque monkey inside her cage, thensent the animal and cage into a 180-degree cleaning machine. Despitethat monkey's death, the USDA gave the lab a pass;

All it took was apromise from SNBL that it would institute new requirements on checkingcages before washing them.Animal rights attorney Adam Karp is disappointed."If this is the complete investigation, which consists of one page andtalking to one individual and relying on hearsay, then I think puttingour hope and promise into a USDA investigation is far worse than Iever expected."-- full story:http://www.kirotv.com/news/16341994/detail.html http://pets.Fortheanimals7/join http://www.myspace.com/fortheanimals7