OSU To Mrs. Pickens: Vet School Not Barbaric

Associated Press

STILLWATER, OK -- Officials at Oklahoma State are defending their research methods used on live animals.

The response comes after donor Madeleine Pickens said she wants a recent $5 million donation to the OSU veterinary school redirected somewhere else on campus.

Pickens says she decided on the change after a student at the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences told her of "barbaric" practices. She says they include the breaking of animal's bones and removing organs as part of teaching and research.

OSU spokesman, Gary Shutt, says the allegation is not accurate and that no animal is subjected to broken bones or organ removal as part of the veterinarian teaching program.

And dean Michael Lorenz issued a statement saying the information Pickens received is mostly incorrect.

Pickens is the wife of OSU alum and billionaire oilman Boone Pickens who has donated tens of millions of dollars to the university.