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CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS LEADING TO MULTIPLE COUNTS OF CRIMINAL ANIMAL
CRUELTY FILED AGAINST THE NIH'S "ALAMOGORDO PRIMATE FACILITY"
OPERATOR
Prepared by In Defense of Animals /
September 7th, 2004
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May 2000 - Only weeks after IDA submits the permanent sanctuary plan to Congress, the NIH - which had previously testified to Congress that unnamed legal obstacles prevented it from doing anything about the Coulston chimpanzees - suddenly takes "ownership" of 288 chimpanzees from the Foundation, citing concerns about Coulston's animal care and financial stability. A substantial number of these chimpanzees were among the 111 whom the Air Force had awarded to the Coulston lab. Although the NIH's takeover technically fulfills the August 1999 USDA settlement to halve the lab's population, the NIH leaves the chimpanzees under the care of the Coulston Foundation until June 2001, during which time the lab continues to violate federal animal welfare laws and the NIH continues to fund it.
May 15, 2000 - An official with the NIH's National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), which is the Coulston lab's main funding component, claims in the Washington Post
(Washington Post) that the severe animal welfare violations at the Foundation were the result of "public relations" problems, and that the unprecedented administrative actions taken by the USDA constituted mere "wall surface" and "record-keeping" transgressions.
May 18, 2000 - The same NIH NCRR official testifies before Congress, and refuses to admit that the USDA - in direct contravention of the NIH - had repeatedly found substantial animal welfare violations at the Coulston lab. Rep. James Greenwood (R-PA), Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, is incredulous. He quotes the official's statement from the Post and states that it is very clear what the USDA's concerns are.
May 2000 - The NIH begins to search for a caretaker for the 288 chimpanzees now "owned" by the agency. NCRR publicly states that The Coulston Foundation, despite its unprecedented record of negligence, deserves an opportunity to compete for the contract because the lab has improved conditions for the chimpanzees. This is untrue.
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