A former University of Wisconsin-Madison veterinarian who resigned due to frustration with how the university handled his concerns about maltreatment of research animals has become another voice siding with an animal rights group that recently made similar allegations.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals accused UW-Madison a month ago of mistreating animals used in hearing aid research. The United States Department of Agriculture cleared the university of wrongdoing in a routine inspection conducted between Sept. 28 and Oct. 5.However, former UW-Madison laboratory animal veterinarian Richard Brown sent the USDA a letter Friday outlining his concern over its failure to cite the university for animal mistreatment, according to a news release from PETA.
In the letter, Brown said research staff failed to properly anesthetize cats or care for health problems resulting from surgical procedures during his time at the university, PETA said.
Brown supervised veterinary treatment for research animals during the same time period upon which PETA founded their accusations, according to the release.
“I saw this research firsthand,” Brown said in the release. “Many of these cats suffered unnecessarily.”
Brown resigned in 2010 after the university failed to sufficiently address animal welfare concerns he took to his colleagues, PETA said.
“I’m confident a second, focused review of the surgical records by the [USDA] would show the same concerns the veterinary staff observed during my time at Wisconsin,” Brown said.
University officials continue to refute all allegations of animal mistreatment and said the university takes the humane treatment of animals seriously.
