1. Our company’s presence in Snohomish County should be no surprise. Economic Development officials recruited our Japanese-owned company to the county over eight years ago and we have worked with city of Everett officials to site, build and expand our business over the years. We are one of the largest employers in the county with over 370 people working here. We have also been the subject of news articles in the Everett Herald.

2. We are fully accredited by the USDA and the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC), which inspects similar research facilities around the world. We were most recently inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture, which has jurisdiction over the care of the animals used in pharmacological research, in November of last year. The inspection found no violations.

3. From your promotional material, it appears that Halsne may be referring to an incident that occurred in November of 2007 in which one of the monkeys used in our research died in an unfortunate accident. It was the first accidental death of a monkey in our care in the eight and a half years of our work here.

4. The person referred to as the “former colony manager” is an individual who left our company last summer. During her employment here she received several warnings for her failure to adhere to protocols involving the cleaning of animal cages and proper hiring and training practices. The individuals who were involved in the November accident were hired and trained by her.

5.We have contacted the USDA to see if the federal intervention you are promoting was imminent and have been told that the last inspection, in November, contained no violations and no further directed inspections were planned. We provide basic research for the development of drugs that directly contribute to the improvement of human health. We do so humanely, carefully and in compliance with all federal regulations. The FDA requires that potential new drugs be tested for safety and efficacy in animals, prior to being used on humans. Without animal research, all of the drugs developed in the last 100 years would not be on the market today. Of the many facilities in the United States like ours, our operation is considered to be among the very best. We regret that your television station is choosing a sensational story involving our company.

James Klaassen, DVM, PhD, DACVP, SNBL USA Executive Director of Laboratory Services.