The center, where monkeys have been burned, left outside in frigid weather to develop frostbite, and strangled to death doesn’t deserve one penny of public funding. It should stop harming monkeys and close down now.
GARRETT BRNGER: The Texas Biomedical Research Institute has withdrawn its $11 million request for bond funding in the face of public outcry over animal welfare concerns. Texas Biomed had requested money through the $1.2 billion 2022-2027 bond program to improve infrastructure at its aging campus. Though the request had the support of city staff, a citizens committee charged with considering projects for funding received numerous public comments in opposition, based on the institute’s use of primates for animal testing.
Texas Biomed had requested bond money as part of a more than $30 million project to update its campus infrastructure, which is, in turn, part of a $270 million, 10-year strategic plan to grow its research program and double the number of its employees… Speakers at the Facilities Committee meetings and comments submitted through the city’s website criticized the practice of animal testing and the institute’s history with primates, referencing animal escapes and welfare concerns, such as frostbitten primates during the February freeze…
Texas Biomed President and CEO Dr. Larry Schlesinger notified Mayor Ron Nirenberg and City Manager Erik Walsh through a memo that the institute was withdrawing its request. He also defended its animal testing practices. “We regret that there has been a vocal minority that has misinformed and misrepresented the work we do and disparaged our ethical, caring and nationally-recognized animal research program… animal research is absolutely necessary to understand and further human health, and is required by the FDA for preclinical testing of new therapies and vaccines”…
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo, on the other hand, cheered the development. “This is a huge victory for San Antonio taxpayers, including the more than 22,000 who are PETA supporters, and for the monkeys who likely won’t be brought into the world just to be tormented at Texas Biomed’s Southwest National Primate Research Center,” Guillermo said in a news release… PETA slammed Texas Biomed in August after it claimed to have obtained federal documents showing the fingers, toes, or tails of 159 baboons had to be amputated because of frostbite during the February freeze…
The baboons’ injuries were referenced by opponents, including by attorney and animal rights advocate Joel Hailey at the Facilities Committee’s Nov. 18 meeting… “I feel that they do not prioritize their funding for acceptable animal welfare standards, and I don’t believe that they should be receiving our San Antonio taxpayer dollars,” Hailey told the committee… The public push back was enough to raise concern among committee members about how scrutiny over Texas Biomed’s project could affect the overall success of the bond. SOURCE…
[The following is the full statement from PETA regarding the bond withdrawal]:
PETA: This is a huge victory for San Antonio taxpayers, including the more than 22,000 who are PETA supporters, and for the monkeys who likely won’t be brought into the world just to be tormented at Texas Biomed’s Southwest National Primate Research Center. The primate center, where monkeys have been burned, left outside in frigid weather to develop frostbite, strangled to death, and have escaped multiple times, doesn’t deserve one penny of public funding, let alone $11 million. The primate center should stop harming monkeys in pointless experiments and close down now. SOURCE…
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