Government Documents Reveal Pattern of Extreme Federal Law Violations

::::::::

Washington, DC – Shipment of non-human primates into the U.S. by the nation’s largest importers should be halted immediately because those importers regularly break federal laws, a national research watchdog organization said today.

SAEN, a non-profit group based in Cincinnati, said it has filed an official request for revocation of current permits and denial of future import permits for the three largest importers of non-human primates in the U.S. – Charles River Laboratories, Covance Research Products and the SNBL Corporation.

According to government reports obtained by SAEN, these three corporations were responsible for more than 75 percent of all US primate imports – more than 20,000 primates during 2006.

“Companies violating federal law on a regular basis should lose the ability to bring primates into the U.S.,” said Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., Executive Director, SAEN. “These three companies abuse animals and have amassed more than 70 violations of federal regulations in a recent nine-month period.”

Charles River violated federal law 22 times in the monitoring period; the SNBL lab violated federal law eight times, while killing over 20 marmosets through negligence, according to the government documents. Covance labs in Pennsylvania and Virginia combined for 42 federal violations.

Budkie said that federal regulations allow for the revocation/denial of importation permits based on failure to keep animals in humane conditions or for violation of federal regulations.

The government reports and ranking statistics are available upon request.

Contact Michael Budkie at 513-575-5517 or 513-703-9865

Authors Website: http://www.georgianne-nienaber.com

Authors Bio:

Georgianne Nienaber is an investigative environmental and political writer. She lives in rural northern Minnesota and South Florida. Her articles have appeared in The Society of Professional Journalists' Online Quill Magazine, the Huffington Post, The Ugandan Independent, Rwanda's New Times, India's TerraGreen, COA News, ZNET, OpEdNews, Glide Magazine, The Journal of the International Primate Protection League, Africa Front, The United Nations Publication, A Civil Society Observer, Bitch Magazine, and Zimbabwe's The Daily Mirror. Her fiction expose of insurance fraud in the horse industry, Horse Sense, was re-released in early 2006. Gorilla Dreams: The Legacy of Dian Fossey was also released in 2006. Nienaber spent much of 2007 doing research in South Africa, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was in DRC as a MONUC-accredited journalist, and was living in Southern Louisiana investigating hurricane reconstruction and getting to know the people there in 2007. Nienaber is continuing "to explore the magic of the Deep South." She was a member of the Memphis Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and is a current member of Investigative Rorters and Editors.