Sparks animal research lab pays USDA $10,000 for monkey deaths

Page Last Updated: Friday June 12, 2009 4:58pm PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Agriculture Department says an animal research laboratory in Nevada has agreed to pay $10,000 in a dispute over the death of some primates at its lab.

The settlement with Charles River Laboratories stems from an incident at a lab in Sparks where 32 monkeys died in May 2008 because a faulty climate-control system allowed the lab to become
too hot.

An animal rights group that helped publicize the incident says the company should have faced a much larger fine. Michael Budkie of Stop Animal Exploitation Now says $10,000 is "virtually
meaningless" to Charles River. He says the primates who died probably cost more than that.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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