WIKIMEDIA, GEORGE CHERNILEVSKYSanta Cruz Biotechnology maintains a sprawling central California ranch that houses thousands of goats and rabbits from which it harvests antibodies for use in life-science laboratories around the world. But the company has run afoul of federal laws governing animal safety for the past decade, and in 2012, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) filed an enforcement action against the corporation. Now, a tentative date has been set for the hearing at which Santa Cruz Biotech will attempt to defend itself against the allegations.
Since 2003, Santa Cruz Biotech has paid thousands of dollars in fines for dozens of citations levied by the USDA for violating the Animal Welfare Act, according to The New Yorker. Violations have mainly involved poor veterinary care of the facility’s goats. During a 2010 inspection, USDA officials say they found a goat that had been bitten by a coyote but was not receiving any treatment for pain, a lame goat that was unable to reach its food, and a sick goat lying in the sun on a 90 degree day. And in January 2013, the USDA reported that the company was hiding a barn that housed more than 800 goats for more than two years.
Though the federal agency gave Santa Cruz Biotech the ...
