Wash. researchers allow monkey to starve

SEATTLE, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- University of Washington researchers allowed a monkey to die of starvation last year, U.S. officials say.

A U.S. Agriculture Department inspection report said neglect on the part of staff at the University of Washington's National Primate Research Center resulted in the male pigtailed macaque dying, The Seattle Times reported Saturday.

The USDA officials said the monkey had had not been weighed regularly as required by the university's own protocols.

Center Director David Anderson told the newspaper three workers and one supervisor had been disciplined over the incident.

"That's a bad thing to have happen," Nona Phillips, director of UW's Office of Animal Welfare, told the Times. "This is very, very unusual."

"If they can't even keep the primates fed, you have to wonder what else is happening," Executive Director Michael Budkie of the animal-rights organization Stop Animal Exploitation Now told the newspaper.