NEWS AND COMMENT: At an employment tribunal, the applicant, Robert Pawlak, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Exeter, alleged that Deborah Galley illegally decapitated over 200 mice and through her actions animals died of a lack of water and starvation. The mice, he said, had been bred deliberately and they were genetically modified. The breeding took place over two years without a licence, he said.
Pawlak claims that Galley made him and his wife mentally ill after she was appointed the laboratory manager in April 2013 because she began spreading “false rumours about me and Anna [his wife] and calling me obscene names to co-workers.”
Palwak claims that the actions of Galley were “criminal acts punishable by a jail sentence”. Him and his wife are claiming wrongful or unfair dismissal and race discrimination. They are also claiming compensation because they are whistleblowers and as such they appear to have been persecuted by this woman. They are also making a disability claim against the University according to The Times newspaper.
Pawlak works at the medical school and leads a research team studying neurobiology. He lives at Crediton, Devon and said that he sent many emails to senior managers informing them of the behaviour of Galley. He said that he felt that she was putting animal welfare in jeopardy and he frequently told managers about this.
Both him and his wife say that they have felt suicidal and became seriously ill because of the alleged mistreatment by Galley. He said that his wife felt worthless and everything that he had worked towards in his entire life was in tatters.
He said that he became ill from late 2015 and that his wife became so seriously unwell that she was sectioned and taken to hospital for long stays. The case continues.
Comment: Deborah Galley needs to be investigated in terms of criminal behaviour under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, in the UK. If the allegations are proved it must be a case of animal cruelty and abuse under that act. On conviction you can face imprisonment and a fine.
