Massachusetts: Harvard Fined for Deaths of Research Monkeys

 The Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that it had fined Harvard Medical School $24,000 for repeated animal welfare violations at its research centers that have resulted in the deaths of four monkeys since 2011. The fine comes after a lengthy investigation into mistreatment of primates at the school’s animal research labs in Massachusetts, one of which Harvard plans to close. In one case in February 2011, a laboratory worker overdosed a monkey with anesthetic, causing it to die of liver failure. Two other monkeys died after being deprived of water, and one died after a chain attached to a toy in its cage wrapped around its neck, strangling the animal.