SALT LAKE CITY -
The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization said an undercover investigation found that animals purchased from animal shelters were used for biomedical experiments at the University of Utah. The organization based out of Virginia held a press conference on Wednesday morning and announced the launch of an investigation. Kathy Guillermo, PETA vice president, was in Salt Lake City for the conference and revealed that an undercover investigator at the University of Utah reported the case.
"We had an investigator working undercover inside the University of Utah laboratories for eight months this year and she documented violations of the Animal Welfare Act and federal guidelines," said Guillermo. "And we also found disturbingly that the University is buying dogs and cats from local animal shelters for experimentation."
Guillermo refers to undercover video footage that was recorded at the U and later made available to the public.
Guillermo said federal guidelines for animal experimentation were not followed. She said animals were denied care and mice were left without water long enough that they died of dehydration. She also said monkeys were denied water so that during the experiments, thirst would be the main motivator to prod the animal into action.
"It's such a betrayal of the public trust to buy animals from a shelter like they are pieces of laboratory equipment and experiment on them," said Guillermo.
FOX 13's Scott McKane has more.
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"We had an investigator working undercover inside the University of Utah laboratories for eight months this year and she documented violations of the Animal Welfare Act and federal guidelines," said Guillermo. "And we also found disturbingly that the University is buying dogs and cats from local animal shelters for experimentation."
Guillermo refers to undercover video footage that was recorded at the U and later made available to the public.
Guillermo said federal guidelines for animal experimentation were not followed. She said animals were denied care and mice were left without water long enough that they died of dehydration. She also said monkeys were denied water so that during the experiments, thirst would be the main motivator to prod the animal into action.
"It's such a betrayal of the public trust to buy animals from a shelter like they are pieces of laboratory equipment and experiment on them," said Guillermo.
FOX 13's Scott McKane has more.
SEND US YOUR NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS PICTURES! www.fox13now.com/pics
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! @fox13now
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