Media Coverage About SAEN Stop Animal Exploitation Now

U of M Called out on Cruel Animal Experiments

ACTION ALERT:

Dr. Robert Gibbens
Director, Animal Welfare Operations, USDA-APHIS
[email protected] 
[email protected] 

Please levy the MAXIMUM FINE against the University of Michigan for their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act which led to seven violations in approximately two months, and took the lives of multiple animals and caused lab staff to be temporarily banned from animal use. Their behavior should NOT be tolerated and MUST be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

 

U of M Called out on Cruel Animal Experiments

From J.P. Isbell, MichiganNewsSource.com, July 24, 2023

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In the wake of the animal advocacy group, Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SAEN) reporting that the University of Michigan “broke federal law seven times in two months in regard to the animals at their research facilities,” many Michiganders are surprised to find out that the university has even been involved in animal testing and research.

SAEN, a non-profit organization whose mission is to END animal experiments through investigations, media exposés, and public pressure, obtained two USDA reports which detailed multiple violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act by the University of Michigan. The act regulates the treatment of animals in research, teaching, testing, exhibition, transport, and by dealers.

SAEN says that included in the issues listed in the reports were inadequate animal handling & veterinary care and problematic qualifications of the people handling the animals, including giving expired drugs to a calf and a botched euthanasia on a rabbit.

In a letter, SAEN has called on Dr. Robert Gibbens, Director of Animal Welfare Operations with the USDA-APHIS (US Dept. of Agricultures’ Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) to “Please levy the MAXIMUM FINE ($12,722 fine for each infraction) against the University of Michigan for their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act which led to seven violations in approximately two months, and took the lives of multiple animals and caused lab staff to be temporarily banned from animal use. Their behavior should NOT be tolerated and MUST be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

SAEN co-founder Michael A. Budkie said in a statement Tuesday, “These two inspection reports cite the University of Michigan for incidents connected to the loss of two animals, one animal who was not euthanized correctly, lab staff who were suspended from all animal use for utilizing an uncertified anesthetic machine, expired drugs which were administered, and unapproved procedures which were performed.”

According to the Detroit Metro Times, the university revealed in June it had suspended animal handlers from “performing any animal care and use activities” for a minimum of 60 days after they used an uncertified anesthesia machine while “performing survival surgeries that involved four rabbits,” according to a letter from the university’s Animal Care and UseCommittee.

Detroit Metro Times goes on to say, “In April, researchers left a rat in a dirty cage and neglected the animal for four days, leaving it without food or water, according to the USDA. Inspectors said researchers also lost a baby rabbit while moving the animal to another enclosure and never found it.”

SAEN’s Budkie said in the letter to the USDA, “Without access to food and water which are provided by lab staff, it is likely that the infant rabbit died of either dehydration or starvation.”

In March, a euthanasia on a rabbit was botched and discovered alive the next day. According to SAEN, if not properly euthanized, animals “wake up in carcass freezers.” Even more incidents were noted after a March inspection.

The University of Michigan was also recently involved in another scandal regarding animal experimentation when their former researcher, Dr. Chung Owyang, was found to have conducted fraudulent animal experiments. Retracted from a health journal were five publications that he authored because he appeared to have falsified or fabricated data on rat experiments. As of January, he was no longer employed by the university. SAEN has asked for a criminal investigation into the matter since the fraudulent research involved $5 million+ in grants.

The Detroit Free Press received a written statement from the university about the issues with their research lab and they said, “working with animals to advance scientific and medical knowledge is a responsibility that requires our constant attention” and “in accordance with federal regulatory expectations, any incidents are corrected immediately upon discovery, and U-M self-reports any incidents to appropriate authorities.”

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