Investigators find that improper research protocol, veterinary care has injured, killed multiple animals

UC Davis animal testing laboratories and veterinarian facilities have been the recent subject of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspections and investigations into animal deaths, injuries and forced euthanizations.

UC Davis animal testing laboratories and facilities currently hold 30 dogs, 419 cats, six guinea pigs, 59 hamsters, 315 rabbits, 125 sheep, 90 pigs, 2,117 other farm animals and 2,719 non-human primates for research purposes. Investigations found that animals have been killed or forcibly euthanized as a result of experiments or inadequate care in 2016 and in past years. Other inspections challenge the cleanliness and quality of animal enclosures.

“The most recent citation is because an animal escaped, was injured and was euthanized because UC Davis staff couldn’t be trusted to close up an enclosure to ensure the animal couldn’t get out,” said Michael Budkie, co-founder and executive director of watchdog group Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN), referencing a recent non-human primate forced euthanization. “Repeat citations for such basic operations have to call into question the competence of the staff at UC Davis. If they can’t close a cage door correctly, why should we believe they can do science?”

After this incident, Andy Fell, associate director of news and media relations, said the staff member responsible for leaving the enclosure open has been properly retrained.

This is not the first time UC Davis has been under fire due to questionable practices with regards to animal care.

In 2006, llamas’ pens were found with dust, sediment and a film of algae in the water, which can breed harmful microorganisms. Six years later, a lamb died after being fallen on by a 233-pound ewe during transportation — the result of an inadequately small cage. That same year, a dog died while playing with another dog, both owned by the School of Veterinary Medicine, likely by accidental strangulation from the other dog biting its collar while unsupervised by staff.

Researchers have also been cited for performing unnecessary surgery on ewes in order to discover pregnancy, due to claims that less invasive methods were too expensive.

According to a 2016 USDA inspection report, a rabbit that was not properly tranquilized before an experiment had to be euthanized.

Michael Budkie said the university should lose its federal funding because of the violations.

“Some of the research they do has nothing to do about human medicine,” Budkie said. “It’s about bringing in the $40 million a year [in federal grants]. The writing’s on the wall for animal research. Currently, we don’t need animal research. We have cell technology and computer simulation now. Use of animals in science is old science, and UC Davis has no use for it anymore academically.”

However, there are still others, like Fell, who believe that animal testing has scientific value.

“Animal research benefits human health and is strictly regulated by law,” Fell said. “There are unannounced inspections by the USDA that we are not notified about previously.”

Denisse Valencia, second-year clinical nutrition major, was displeased to learn about these allegations of animal mistreatment at the university she attends.

“It breaks my heart,” Valencia said.

In addition to its other animal testing and veterinary centers, UC Davis also houses the California National Primate Center (CNPRC), which wields autism and Zika virus breakthroughs thanks to tests on animals.

According to Fell, every investigation by the USDA has been closed or corrected. However, Budkie holds a different view.

“When the USDA says that they have an open investigation, this doesn’t just mean they are looking for something,” Budkie said. “They are looking for the purpose of prosecuting.”

Written by: Aaron Liss — campus@theaggie.org

The Oct. 27 ASUCD Senate meeting was called to order at 6:09 p.m. Senators Samantha Chiang, Sam Park and Julie Jung were absent at roll call, but Chiang and Jung arrived later in the meeting.

Darin Schleup, the director of the Coffee House (CoHo), gave a report as the first order of business. He announced that, this school year, the CoHo has hired 120 new student employees and has implemented a new point-of-sale system. Additionally, he said that the CoHo will run a coffee cart at the new Manetti Shrem Museum this year and will also run a trial to see if selling coffee in Shields Library in the evenings of finals week will be successful.

After Schleup, a student representative for a mobile app called JoyRun approached the Senate asking if ASUCD could share a JoyRun Facebook post on an official ASUCD page. The Senate did not make a final decision. Some senators then placed a JoyRun order for Chipotle mid-meeting.

From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the senate retired to a closed session for Peer Education and Community Empowerment (PEACE) training.

After the training, the senate confirmed Christopher Ortiz as the new Refrigerator Services unit director. Ortiz described his plan to cycle out old fridges that no longer work and replace them with working ones in order to cut down the fridge waitlist.

During the elections committee chair report, chair Sevan Nahabedian explained that he was still in the process of getting candidate statements online. He reported that one senate candidate had dropped out. The senate also discussed creating a polling place on campus for students to use in order to vote in ASUCD elections.

CalPIRG spoke next about improving general election voter turnout through voting pledges.

After a 10-minute recess, Senator Shaitaj Dhaliwal nominated Jung to serve on the Marketing Committee, and Jung accepted.

There was a public comment from a John Li, who, 30 years ago, wrote an article for The California Aggie about coping with stress and what students get out of a college education. He offered to send copies of the article to senators.

Representatives from Aggie Reuse then presented to about their operations. The unit has reached 96 percent of its income goal to make $1,800 during Fall Quarter. The unit plans to earn $2,100 each quarter this school year, for a total of $6,000 each year.

Senator Ricardo Martinez introduced a reimbursement bill for $88.76 for snacks he purchased for Mental Health Fair workshops. Chiang opposed the bill, asserting that this type of bill set a bad precedent for the senate after Senator Sofia Molodonof’s previous reimbursement bill set the senate up for failure. Additionally, she disapproved the purchasing of name-brand fruit snacks and dried fruits, which she believed were unnecessarily expensive.

ASUCD controller Joe DeAngelo, when asked by Senator Dalavai how much the senate had spent out of reserves this year, answered that the body had spent $300 to $400 of the $17,000 in reserves.

After Dhaliwal divided the house to see the reimbursement bill support and saw that the bill would pass, he called the motion into question and the reimbursement bill passed. All were in favor except for Chiang and Senator Parteek Singh. Park abstained because he was absent from the meeting.

Moving to consider new legislation, Senator Adilla Jamaludin sent a bill that would require elected senators to serve for three quarters to the Internal Affairs Commission.

Ex-officio members and senators then gave their reports.

The meeting adjourned at 9:32 p.m.

Written by: Kenton Goldsby — campus@theaggie.org

UC Davis aims to review, improve Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan

In an effort to review the objectives set forth in last year’s forum to improve diversity and inclusion on campus, the UC Davis Diversity and Inclusion Committee (DIC) hosted a follow-up community engagement forum on Oct. 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the UC Davis Conference Center.

The DIC was originally designed by former Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi in 2014, but has been taken over by Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Adela de la Torre since Katehi’s resignation. De la Torre said the committee strives to ensure every student and faculty member feels welcome on campus regardless of their individual identities.

The goal of the program was to review the draft of the previous year’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan with the help of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members and other community representatives. Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Maureen Stanton began the event by providing background on the importance of inclusive excellence around campus.

“Inclusive excellence […] is fundamentally the belief that eclectic knowledge [of] diversity in culture and belief systems is our greatest asset in our development of new knowledge, new solutions and new opportunities,” Stanton said.

After explaining the history of the draft process, de la Torre asserted that the forums are crucial to establishing a proposal that properly embodies the UC Davis image of inclusive excellence. She also stressed the importance of examining “prior initiatives” and programs from other universities, such as UC Berkeley, to construct a plan.

De la Torre said the plan has been reviewed and revised since the last forum to identify various problems and concerns.

“The plan lacks a sense of urgency, [there is] no real change, […] we need to look at current editions, […] and staff issues weren’t adequately high-minded,” de la Torre said.

The purpose of the follow-up forum was to refine the draft plan by splitting attendees into teams to analyze its multiple objectives.

Laura Cerruti, an analyst for the DIC, led the group activity and summarized the four themes of the plan: pipeline, recruitment and retention; campus climate; research, teaching, public service and training; and institutional commitment, policies and practices.

Cerruti urged team members to keep in mind a quote from scientist Thomas Huxley in their group discussions: “Try to learn something about everything, and everything about something.”

Each group collaboratively brainstormed ideas in response to their first impressions of the assigned objective and what they thought was important or missing from the plan’s focus on diversity and inclusion. Cerruti then told the teams to cluster their ideas and announce their suggestions for improvement to the rest of the groups before bringing the forum to a close.

DIC intends to finalize the Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan by February 2017.

The Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan Draft can be viewed and sent feedback at studentaffairs.ucdavis.edu.

Written by: Jeanna Totah — campus@theaggie.org