Coulston Surrenders 300 Chimps in Welfare Case

September 7, 1999

Coulston Foundation, an Alamogordo, NM, research facility, will give up 300 of its chimpanzees and arrange for a USDA-approved external review team to examine their entire animal program. The settlement involves violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

By the first of the year, Coulston will divest itself of 30 chimps, by Jan. 1, 2001, another 120 will be transferred, and an additional 150 will no longer be part of the foundation by Jan. 1, 2002. "This agreement will help ensure that all of the approximately 650 chimps currently housed at the Coulston Foundation are provided quality care well into the next century, says USDA Under Secretary Mike Dunn.

Coulston neither admitted nor denied any violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The foundation was charged with AWA violations when USDA inspectors found it railed to handle three sedated chimps as carefully as possible in a manner that did not cause behavioral stress, physical harm and unnecessary discomfort.

Also, the charges resulted from not providing adequate veterinary care to the three chimps, not establishing and maintaining programs of adequate veterinary care and not providing adequate "pre-procedural" care according to current established veterinary medical and nursing procedures. The charges were part of a list of more than 20 alleged violations of the AWA.