The Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute in Albuquerque has received an official warning from the U.S. Department of Agriculture following two critical violations of animal welfare regulations that resulted in serious injuries to laboratory animals and a botched euthanasia procedure.
The violations, documented in a USDA inspection report dated May 21, led to the federal agency issuing an Official Warning on Aug. 27 for improper handling of non-human primates at the Albuquerque facility.
In the most serious incident, which occurred Jan. 28, 2025, a veterinarian supervising a euthanasia training session failed to ensure a 6-year-old female cynomolgus macaque had died after injection with euthanasia solution. The animal was placed in a sealed plastic bag and refrigerated, but necropsy staff later discovered the monkey still showed signs of respiration and heartbeat, according to the USDA report…