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A hidden barn. A mystery witness. And two sick goats dying right in front of visiting federal inspectors — one of them shot in the head with a bolt gun.
The company at the center of this scandal is Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc. in San Luis Obispo, California, a top science lab supplier of antibodies harvested from the blood of thousands of goats and rabbits. In August, after a years-long delay, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) held a hearing to address the complaints against the firm, including hiding a barn full of hundreds of ailing goats from federal health inspectors for years.
“Hiding a barn from animal welfare inspectors is a blatant violation. I don’t understand why they didn’t shut them down immediately at that time,” David Favre, a law professor at Michigan State University, told BuzzFeed News.
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The government is also accusing the company of dozens of other violations, including a lack of veterinary care for sick goats that led to suffering and even death.
Santa Cruz Biotech’s main business is the production of antibodies, immune system proteins that scientists commonly use in biology labs to tag, collect, or deliver treatment to cells. The company uses goats and rabbits as tiny factories for the molecules, filtering them out of their blood and purifying it for sale to public and private research groups.
Read full, original post: Feds Investigate Goat Deaths And Neglect At Biotech Lab
