Alaska School Gets $127K Penalty for Animal Deaths

Photo Credit: destination arctic circle / Creative Commons The University of Alaska Fairbanks has been penalized $127,100 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after 12 musk oxen died from malnutrition at the school’s large animal research station earlier this decade.

An administrative law judge for the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the civil penalty Thursday for violating of the Animal Welfare Act. An animal rights group that initially filed a complaint over the deaths in 2011, prompting a USDA investigation, announced the penalty Tuesday.

The size of the penalty “tells me the USDA is sending a message to these facilities that they are no longer going to stand for these criminals that break the law, and we’re very happy to see this,” said Michael Budkie, executive director of the group Stop Animal Exploitation Now.

The university entered into the agreement without admitting fault.

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