After facing public criticism from the wife of T. Boone Pickens for conducting animal research, Oklahoma State University officials on Monday defended research methods that included multiple surgeries on live animals and euthanasia.
OSU on Monday responded to questions raised by Madeleine Pickens, an OSU donor and supporter of animal rescue programs. Pickens has asked OSU to redirect her $5 million donation away from animal research at OSU’s Center of Veterinary Health Sciences in Stillwater.
Citing an anonymous source in the student newspaper, The Daily O’Collegian, Pickens said the methods involve breaking an animal’s bones and removing organs as part of teaching and research. The animals are then euthanized.
“It is not anything I want to support,” Pickens said. “I don’t agree with their protocol or philosophy.”
