Latest news with #OregonNationalPrimateResearchCenter
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Animal advocates want proposed Oregon bill amended to close OHSU primate center
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Animal advocates have taken a public hearing on a proposed bill as an opportunity to urge lawmakers to shut down the Oregon National Primate Research Center. The House Committee On Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans held the hearing on on Tuesday. Although the measure would ban research facilities from using public funds to cover 'medically unnecessary' testing on dogs and cats, several people provided testimony on why the proposal should also call for the closure of Oregon Health & Science University's monkey research lab. Downtown Vancouver street parking could no longer be free on weekends. Here's why The facility first opened after accepting its first group of rhesus macaques in the 1960s. Since then, OHSU has reported that the primates help boost patient care by teaching researchers more about vaccines and cures for diseases like Parkinson's, measles and mumps. But in recent years, activists with groups like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and have accused the university of abusing the monkeys by keeping them confined in tight areas and neglecting to treat them when they're sick. 'One of the facts that's irrefutable about the primate center is that it has violated the federal Animal Welfare Act repeatedly year after year,' Lake Oswego resident Amy Meyer, who testified on behalf of PETA, said at SB 181's hearing. 'They cannot get it right and every violation cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture means horrific suffering and often a terrible death has happened to the monkeys caged there.' Amid the renewed push to close the primate center, its ability to care for the animals and the importance of the research. In a statement issued last month, the university emphasized that its work is heavily regulated by federal officials and there are veterinary specialists that address the monkeys' medical and dental needs. The institution has also asserted it only uses animals for research that doesn't offer an alternative option. OHA: 'Alarming' rise in syphilis during pregnancy contribute to infant health issues 'We are working toward the goal of ultimately eliminating the need for animals, and specifically nonhuman primates, to conduct research,' OHSU said. 'Despite great advances in new approach methodology, the technology to eliminate animal research isn't there yet.' Following Tuesday's hearing, the House committee has scheduled another work session for SB 181. It is slated for Tuesday, May 20. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
OHSU takes public stance against calls to close primate research center
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Oregon Health and Science University has publicly sounded off against the push for the institution to close its monkey research facility. On Wednesday, the university published an announcement addressing animal advocates' claims on why the Oregon National Primate Research Center should be shut down. 'Usually somebody blabs': Tony White's 2005 death still unsolved People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA, asked the National Institutes for Health's Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare to investigate the OHSU center in mid-April. The organization's revealed a 4-year-old monkey died a 'painful death' from sepsis last year after people at the Beaverton facility ignored her symptoms. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has also slammed the research center, referring to it as a the university could replace by further investing in patient care. In response, OHSU said the claim 'compares apples to oranges.' The institution noted the facility is mostly funded by federal grants that only cover specific research efforts, which improve patient care by identifying new ways to treat diseases. The university also pushed back on animal advocates' argument that the research is cruel and unnecessary. 'While scientific advancements have introduced alternative non-animal models, this technology cannot fully replicate the complexity of a living system at this time,' OHSU . 'Nonhuman primate research remains critical for studying conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, infectious diseases and reproductive health — areas where animal-free methods cannot yet provide complete answers.' May Day rally in Salem defends immigrant workers' rights, opposes sanctuary city cuts The institution noted that animal research is heavily regulated by federal authorities. OHSU also claimed its primates grow up with their social groups and form bonds with researchers in the facility. Many of the university's points were shared in the rally that researchers held on the west campus last month, after Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek urged leaders to close the primate facility. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
