USDA Reports for UW Research Facilities

Annual Reports

  • FY2024
    • Primates used in research: 464
    • Primates in custody but not yet used: 534
    • Total primates: 998
  • FY2023
    • Primates used in research: 465
    • Primates in custody but not yet used: 607
    • Total primates: 1,072
  • FY2022
    • Primates used in research: 504
    • Primates in custody but not yet used: 690
    • Total primates: 1,194
  • FY2021
    • Primates used in research: 502
    • Primates in custody but not yet used: 762
    • Total primates: 1,264
  • FY2020
    • Primates used in research: 571
    • Primates in custody but not yet used: 767
    • Total primates: 1,338

 

Inspection Reports

  • 2025-07-08
    • Experimenters subjected six monkeys to more imaging procedures than were approved in a protocol. Additionally, twelve monkeys were subjected to imaging in an experiment for which imaging was not approved.
    • Experimenters used four more monkeys in an experiment than were approved in the protocol. 
    • Experimenters gave a monkey a higher dose of medication than was approved; the monkey was later euthanized after experiencing expected complications in the experiment. 
    • Experimenters gave the wrong strain of a virus to ten monkeys over the course of two years, which they realized when one of the monkeys reached the point of being euthanized at three days instead of the planned five days after administration and they tested the strain type. 
    • Despite concerns from an attending veterinarian, the IACUC approved the shipment of an elderly monkey across the country without following established procedures. The monkey died. 
    • During an intracranial injection surgery on a monkey, the software in a robotic arm malfunctioned and made uncontrolled movements. The monkey suffered a seizure during recovery and did not have full use of the left side of their body for a few weeks. Three weeks after the botched surgery, experimenters performed a second surgery. The monkey did not recover from anesthesia and was euthanized. The necropsy report showed a blood clot at the monkey’s brain stem and hemorrhage at the base of the brain. 
    • Three rooms with cages of monkeys had chipping paint directly above the cages, creating issues with sanitization and possible injury, and toxic chemicals were stored on the counter used for food preparation for monkeys.
  • 2025-06-12
    • A cage holding ten monkeys had an exposed rusted panel, and most of the cages in an indoor facility had at least one sliding pulley system door with moderate damage. This disrepair creates a risk of injury for the monkeys and makes cage cleaning and sanitization difficult.
  • 2024-10-08
    • Experimenters subjected a monkey to an x-ray procedure to observe swallowing more times than approved in the protocol (three times a week for four weeks), and the monkey experienced radiation toxicity with symptoms. 
    • Experimenters performed lymph node biopsies on the same four monkeys without providing them with the required pain reliever on two different dates. 
    • Experimenters performed a spinal tap on a monkey without providing them with the required pain reliever. 
    • Two monkeys escaped their cages, leading to four monkeys sustaining injuries; three of them had to be sedated for wound treatment. 
    • Three rooms with cages of twenty monkeys had lights on continuously for nine days, not allowing the monkeys any time away from constant light.
  • 2023-09-12
    • Experimenters performed a second surgery on a monkey when only one surgery had been approved on the protocol.
    • A supervisor stepped away while a new trainee was performing a procedure to place a recording device on a monkey’s brain. The trainee damaged brain tissue, and the monkey exhibited neurological impairment within minutes. 
    • Experimenters used an anesthesia machine that did not work correctly with the circuit attached to it, which caused the machine to malfunction and quickly develop pressure in the tubing. The machine was used for a monkey who was experiencing complications during anesthesia, and the machine killed the monkey with the rapid pressure into the lungs. Barotrauma was the cause of death.  
    • No one gave a monkey his daily ration of water during an experiment that used water regulation as part of manipulating monkeys to perform behavioral tasks.
  • 2023-03-21
    • At five different times during July, for periods of four to over nine hours, the temperature in a room holding seven monkeys was over 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • 2021-08-12
    • On three different days in July, a primate room with 14 – 15 monkeys reached temperatures over 85 degrees Fahrenheit for periods of four to seven hours. 
    • In a building holding 226 monkeys, the ceiling light coverings for every primate enclosure contained a significant amount of rodent feces, and many places on the floor also had rodent feces.
  • 2021-01-26
    • Staff left a monkey in a trapping run for over twelve hours without access to food or water.
    • Two monkeys escaped a cage when one of them broke the locks. Seven monkeys sustained injuries.
  • 2020-12-01
    • A one-year-old monkey escaped her cage through a feeder opening that staff had neglected to lock. She climbed onto another cage, and the monkey in it pulled her arm through the 1×1 mesh enclosure. She sustained multiple injuries and had to have her arm amputated.