Animal advocates want proposed Oregon bill amended to close OHSU primate center

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Animal advocates have taken a public hearing on a proposed bill as an opportunity to urge lawmakers to shut down the Oregon National Primate Research Center.

The House Committee On Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans held the hearing on Senate Bill 181 on Tuesday. Although the measure would ban research facilities from using public funds to cover “medically unnecessary” testing on dogs and cats, several people provided testimony on why the proposal should also call for the closure of Oregon Health & Science University’s monkey research lab.

The facility first opened after accepting its first group of rhesus macaques in the 1960s. Since then, OHSU has reported that the primates help boost patient care by teaching researchers more about vaccines and cures for diseases like Parkinson’s, measles and mumps.

But in recent years, activists with groups like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have accused the university of abusing the monkeys by keeping them confined in tight areas and neglecting to treat them when they’re sick.

“One of the facts that’s irrefutable about the primate center is that it has violated the federal Animal Welfare Act repeatedly year after year,” Lake Oswego resident Amy Meyer, who testified on behalf of PETA, said at SB 181’s hearing. “They cannot get it right and every violation cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture means horrific suffering and often a terrible death has happened to the monkeys caged there.”

Amid the renewed push to close the primate center, OHSU has continued to defend its ability to care for the animals and the importance of the research. In a statement issued last month, the university emphasized that its work is heavily regulated by federal officials and there are veterinary specialists that address the monkeys’ medical and dental needs.

The institution has also asserted it only uses animals for research that doesn’t offer an alternative option.

“We are working toward the goal of ultimately eliminating the need for animals, and specifically nonhuman primates, to conduct research,” OHSU said. “Despite great advances in new approach methodology, the technology to eliminate animal research isn’t there yet.”

Following Tuesday’s hearing, the House committee has scheduled another work session for SB 181. It is slated for Tuesday, May 20.