Biotech firm faces a record $3.5-million fine for animal welfare violations

Santa Cruz Biotechnology, a large biotech company and a major antibody provider, has been fined $3.5-million by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for violating animal welfare regulations.

The company headquartered in Texas, had been using goats and rabbits to produce antibodies that were used by biomedical research labs across the world. However, in 2015, USDA inspectors discovered that the company’s facility in California was had kept the goats in inhumane conditions and, in response, logged a complaint. Now the company will pay the fine as part of a settlement with the USDA. Apart from this, it will also lose its government license and its registration to operate as a facility that uses animals for research. So far, the company has neither admitted nor denied that it has violated US animal welfare regulations.  

Santa Cruz Biotechnology has been facing allegations of animal mistreatment since 2007 and has been hit with a total of three complaints from the USDA. While in 2013, USDA inspectors found that the company had a secret facility that housed 841 goats; in February 2016, the company came under fire because thousands of goats and rabbits disappeared from its facilities. There was no indication from the company as to whether the animals were killed or sold. After this news became public, researchers announced that they would boycott the products sold by the company.

The USDA’s decision to revoke the company’s license and enforce a record $3.5-million fine has been hailed by advocates of animal rights. Cathy Liss, president of the Animal Welfare Institute, said, “It should serve as a loud and clear message to all research facilities.”