High temperature/pressure hose was left on in a room housing ten dogs
Tragically, ten dogs were exposed to excessively hot and wet conditions when a pressure hose with hot water was left on and filled up a room at a University of Missouri research laboratory – spraying water with such force that water was dripping from the ceiling. The University has admitted that five of the dogs “succumbed to heat stress” while the five remaining dogs were treated and, according to the University, are “doing well.”
“Allowing five dogs to essentially be cooked to death is simply unconscionable,” stated Michael Budke, co-founder of Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN), which is a national watchdog non-profit that investigates animal abuse and illegal activities at U.S. research facilities.
SAEN recently partnered with the Missouri Alliance in successfully filing legal action against USDA for unlawfully adopting rules that helped to protect substandard animal facilities such as puppy mills, research facilities, and animal exhibitors. SAEN was the first to report on the University of Missouri’s neglect that resulted in the cruel death of these five dogs. SAEN also exposed that a University of Missouri researcher recently dropped a sow and her piglets down a drain – two of the piglets were never recovered.
Please email Dr. Robert Gibbens, Director of Animal Welfare Operations, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and ask that USDA investigate this incident and levy the maximum fine against the University of Missouri. Robert.m.gibbens@usda.gov
USDA has “officially warned” the University of Missouri in the past for neglecting its animals. It is now time for USDA to send a strong message via a substantial fine that such neglect will no longer be tolerated.
