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In a sickening display of apparent cruel indifference, a University of Washington experimenter went off script on an experiment, nearly irradiating a monkey to death. PETA now calls on school brass to sack her immediately.
Fritzie Arce-McShane, an experimenter in the UW School of Dentistry’s Department of Oral Health Sciences, irradiated an adult male macaque on three consecutive days each week for more than a month between mid-May and late June, ignoring stipulations that there should be a 48-hour recovery period between radiation exposures.
The radiation caused severe radiation toxicity, including discharge from the monkey’s eyes and nose; swelling of his face, eyelids, and lips; red, flaky skin; and loss of appetite. He was unable to fully open his mouth for several weeks.
After one round of radiation, the monkey had little appetite and grimaced even when eating soft foods. His symptoms continued for weeks.
Arce-McShane ignored the obvious suffering. The radiation continued from May 14 to June 26. She also failed to inform veterinary staff of her off-script protocol violations until the monkey’s life was in danger.
Arce-McShane eventually admitted her misconduct but blamed a wording inconsistency in the protocol, rather than acknowledging an obvious violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
The monkey has still not recovered fully.
PETA learned about Arce-McShane’s cruelty at the August 15 meeting of the school’s animal oversight committee, which decided to mete out a slap on the wrist to her. The committee is also considering letting her continue irradiating the monkey, despite her disregard for him, science, and the law.
The National Institutes of Health bankrolls Arce-McShane’s gruesome experiment, which supposedly examines how the macaque moves his jaw and tongue while eating.
What You Can Do
This is only the latest atrocity to take place at the UW’s Washington National Primate Research Center, which has a lengthy, yearslong rap sheet spanning the gamut of animal torment.
Please TAKE ACTION to help shut down the Washington National Primate Research Center:
Close the University of Washington’s Monkey Prison
