PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
A monkey escape at Oregon Health and Science University's primate research lab in 2009 and three other incidents has cost OHSU nearly $12,000 in fines.
OHSU representatives announced the settlement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday.
Nine monkeys escaped when a lab worker failed to lock a door when exiting the monkey's outdoor housing area in April 2009.
Four monkeys were immediately captured. Another four were captured the next day, including one at an apartment complex. The final monkey was caught on the primate research center campus, though it had previously crossed the fence to the adjoining Oregon Graduate Institute campus, OHSU officials said.
Since then, OHSU has built a second fence to keep the monkeys from escaping and taken other precautions. The primate center also formed a team of animal care employees with expertise in capturing animals if there's an incident in the future.
In addition to paying a fine for the monkey escape, the primate research center also paid fines for the following incidents, as described by OHSU:
- The death of an animal that received a sedative at a dose higher than typically prescribed.
- The death of two animals related to the malfunction of a drinking apparatus.
- The death of two animals following the injection of a compound with a high toxicity level based on a miscommunication
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