University of California San Francisco this past week paid one of the largest fines for Animal Welfare Act violations in history. Last fall the U.S. Department of Agriculture had charged UCSF for 75 counts of animal welfare violations. "The gravity of violations is great," the USDA complaint stated. A UCSF insider recently noted, "Over the years, UCSF has had to cope with a handful of scientists who haven't always had the best attitude toward animals." Vivisectionist Stephen Lisberger was specifically listed in several of the charges. Now, the university has settled all of the violations by paying the fines for creating an atmosphere where employees are afraid to report complaints and several other charges. UCSF settled the case just days before formal hearings were scheduled to begin. Activists were disappointed in that the settlement means researchers were able to evade public scrutiny of the facts about their treatment of animals in the 600 to 800 experiments conducted at UCSF at any given time. Activists contend that the university seems especially determined to keep their researchers' actions hidden from the public, which pays for their experiments with millions in tax dollars. In Defense of Animals (IDA) began a new round of demonstrations at UCSF last week, focusing on educating the public about what is taking place inside UCSF labs while encouraging insiders to "blow the whistle" on UCSF's animal cruelty. Related Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Previous Indybay Coverage of UCSF Animal Issues and Demos: 1 | 2 | 3