PETA Asks NIH to Hold University of Washington Primate Center Funding Pending Audit

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked the National Institutes of Health on Nov. 10 to hold off on renewing a five-year grant for the University of Washington’s primate research center until an independent audit is complete and NIH has reviewed the findings. In a separate letter, PETA asked AAALAC International, the university’s animal research accreditor, to restrict the university’s accreditation pending its own review of the audit. The letters are requests. No funding or accreditation decision had been publicly confirmed as of Nov. 11.

Both letters cite an Oct. 15 meeting of the university’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which oversees animal use at UW. According to PETA’s account of that meeting, attending veterinarian Christina Cruzen described missing or inaccurate surgical and pathology records and estimated that determining the extent of the problem could take at least a year.

PETA’s letter to NIH says Cruzen found significant errors in all four postmortem reports she examined, including incorrect information about animals and their procedures. The letter also describes concerns that researchers interfered with veterinary staff’s access to monkeys. PETA says UW reported that it had notified NIH about matters under investigation. The group wants NIH to establish what the university disclosed and when.

PETA also asked NIH to restrict spending under the existing center grant during the audit while preserving funds needed for veterinary care and animal welfare. The request to AAALAC concerns the university’s accreditation status, a separate decision from the federal grant renewal.

Why This Matters for Animals

Accurate records help veterinarians and oversight committees establish which procedures an animal underwent, what care followed and whether researchers stayed within approved limits. Access to the animals matters just as much: veterinary staff need to be able to examine monkeys and provide treatment when problems arise. The audit is intended to establish how widespread the recordkeeping problems were. The two letters ask outside organizations to review those findings before making decisions about funding and accreditation.

The accompanying AI-generated illustration depicts a fictional macaque in an imagined woodland.

Source: PETA’s November 10 letter to the National Institutes of Health