OU in Trouble for Animal Treatment

The US Department of Agriculture has cited the University of Oklahoma for abusing baboons.

Written byKerry Grens
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

WIKIMEDIA, NICHOLAS BENSONThe University of Oklahoma (OU) is in hot water with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) after an inspection by the agency found baboons mistreated by staff members. According to Bloomberg Business, the USDA’s report mentioned baboons shivering after having been hosed down while others lived among filth.

“It’s pretty shocking to see that a university of that caliber has those kinds of practices in place,” Susana Della Maddalena with the Central Oklahoma Humane Society, told KFOR. “We hope the university does the right thing and does it quickly.”

The advocacy group Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!, for one, is asking the USDA to fine the university. An online petition, with more than 2,200 signatories, is asking for the lab violating animal rules at OU to be shut down.

OU got in trouble with the USDA in 2013 after the agency found that the college was euthanizing dogs via electrocution.

James Tomasek, vice president for research at OU’s health sciences center, told Bloomberg in an e-mail that the university is working to “demonstrate its ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Related Topics

Meet the Author

  • kerry grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

    View Full Profile
Share
December digest cover image of a wooden sculpture comprised of multiple wooden neurons that form a seahorse.
December 2025, Issue 1

Wooden Neurons: An Artistic Vision of the Brain

A neurobiologist, who loves the morphology of cells, turns these shapes into works of art made from wood.

View this Issue
Stacks of cell culture dishes, plates, and flasks with pink cell culture medium on a white background.

Driving Innovation with Cell Culture Essentials

Merck
Stacks of cell culture dishes, plates, and flasks with pink cell culture medium on a white background.

Driving Innovation with Cell Culture Essentials

MilliporeSigma purple logo
Abstract wireframe sphere with colorful dots and connecting lines representing the complex cellular and molecular interactions within the tumor microenvironment.

Exploring the Inflammatory Tumor Microenvironment 

Cellecta logo
An image of a DNA sequencing spectrum with a radial blur filter applied.

A Comprehensive Guide to Next-Generation Sequencing

Integra Logo

Products

brandtech logo

BRANDTECH® Scientific Announces Strategic Partnership with Copia Scientific to Strengthen Sales and Service of the BRAND® Liquid Handling Station (LHS) 

Top Innovations 2026 Contest Image

Enter Our 2026 Top Innovations Contest

Biotium Logo

Biotium Expands Tyramide Signal Amplification Portfolio with Brighter and More Stable Dyes for Enhanced Spatial Imaging

Labvantage Logo

LabVantage Solutions Awarded $22.3 Million U.S Customs and Border Protection Contract to Deliver Next-Generation Forensic LIMS