Harvard Medical School Receives Federal Warning Over Animal Welfare Violation

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued an official warning notice that Harvard Medical School researchers violated federal animal welfare laws after the school self-reported the incident.

Wednesday’s notice stated that in September of last year, an HMS primary investigator failed to place a barrier between two primate subjects after returning them to their cages. The oversight resulted in injury, according to the notice, as one primate fractured and lacerated the tail of another.

“Harvard Medical School (HMS) failed to handle animals as expeditiously and carefully as possible in a manner that does not cause trauma,” the notice stated.

After reporting the incident, HMS implemented corrective measures before a Department inspection in February of this year, the notice said. The injured animals received prompt veterinary care.

In a statement to The Crimson, HMS spokesperson Ekaterina D. Pesheva wrote that HMS has “rigorous protocols and guidelines” regarding the treatment of animals involved in research.

“This incident was the result of an oversight, which Harvard Medical School self-reported and took immediate corrective measures to safeguard against similar occurrences in the future,” she added.

The warning is the latest in allegations of animal cruelty against HMS researchers. In February, the advocacy group Stop Animal Exploitation Now filed a federal complaint over the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s use of mouse models in cancer research.

In Feb. 2023, over 380 researchers signed a letter calling on the National Institute of Health to stop funding primate experiments at HMS. A few months later, at Harvard Alumni Day, an animal rights protester dumped glitter on Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76, demanding he shut down the labs conducting primate experiments.

In June, Garber was met with more pushback as he attended an alumni event in Madrid, as activists with the group Abolición Vivisección protested the use of monkeys in the lab of HMS professor Margaret S. Livingston.

Despite the protests, however, Pesheva maintained that the use of animals in biological research “remains indispensable for understanding the mechanisms that underlie disease.”

“HMS continuously strives to refine the use and care of animals, reduce the number of animals used in research, and replace animals with nonanimal models whenever possible,” she added.

—Staff writer Veronica H. Paulus can be reached at veronica.paulus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @VeronicaHPaulus.

—Staff writer Akshaya Ravi can be reached at akshaya.ravi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @akshayaravi22.