Media Coverage About SAEN Stop Animal Exploitation Now

USF 'bungled' research project where 2 animals died, group says

 

From Divya Kumar, TampaBayTimes.com, March 15, 2024

A national animal rights group has filed a federal complaint against the University of South Florida alleging violations of the Animal Welfare Act that led to the deaths of two pigs involved in a research project.

The complaint by Stop Animal Exploitation Now points to a January report USF sent to the National Institutes of Health, which funded the study on kidney removals. The letter explains that the project was halted after the first two animals to be used had to be euthanized after post-surgical complications from an unauthorized procedure in July.

The USF report acknowledged that “the event was approached without a clear structure or plan” and that the roles and expectations of those involved were unclear. It also said overnight medical recovery care was not available for the animals after the surgeries, and research staff who could have provided that care were not permitted to access the large animal care facility without an escort. Even if the researchers had been given access, the report said, they were not properly trained to care for the animals.

The report said that researchers never received approval for the combination of procedures before the surgery occurred and that there was “insufficient training,” “mixed expectations,” and a failure of communication about post operative care.

Michael Budkie, executive director of Stop Animal Exploitation Now, has called for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and prosecution with fines of over $12,000 per animal.

Althea Johnson, a USF spokesperson, said once university officials were aware of the euthanasia, they immediately took action to investigate and suspend the project. She said the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare was satisfied with the university’s response and determined that no further action would be necessary.

“The University of South Florida values the respectful and ethical treatment of animals in research,” Johnson wrote in an email. “As part of USF’s commitment to protecting the welfare of animals used in research, we will continue to review all training protocols with researchers and support staff, and we will continue to abide by all state and federal laws and guidelines.”

Pigs and most other vertebrate animals are covered by the federal Animal Welfare Act, unlike rats and mice, making it a regulatory issue.

“It’s a federally funded project and we believe the people in this country that are paying the bill have a right to know,” Budkie said in an interview. “The real responsibility for this fiasco has to rest with the University of South Florida administration that approved this protocol, because it’s quite clear that the personnel were not adequately trained. … And so this project never should have been launched.”

Budkie said his group sees thousands of investigations of animal welfare issues at universities, but only about 50 involve situations where the protocol is suspended and even fewer where it is permanently halted.

“This is highly unusual and indicative of extremely serious problems,” he said.

Budkie said the group is opposed to the use of animals for both ethical and scientific reasons. When scientists aren’t working with zoonotic diseases that cross species lines, he said, there are more accurate and relevant methods of research, like 3D printed organs made with human tissue

“Those kinds of things are going to give you much more scientifically useful information,” he said.

In USF’s letter to the National Institute of Health, Sylvia W. Thomas, interim vice president for research and innovation, wrote that the university is “committed to protecting the welfare of animals used in research.

Budkie responded, saying in the complaint: “If it were true, then the staff involved in this bungled project would have been properly trained before the experiment was launched.”

The violations “are clear and undeniable,” he wrote. ”There is no controversy here, USF is guilty. Their admission of guilt does nothing to remove their responsibility for this incident.”

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