Utah State University's opening of the Thomas and Patricia Willis Veterinary Medical Education Building follows controversy regarding the deaths of 82 naked mole rats and one rabbit. The animal welfare group SAEN has filed an administrative complaint calling for the staff responsible for these deaths to be barred from working with animals again.
In a formal letter to university president Brad L. Mortensen, SAEN Executive Director Michael A. Budkie stated that laboratory staff who engage in improper animal deaths should not be permitted to work with animals again. The complaint highlights two violations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations.
A routine inspection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture noted that the naked mole rats were euthanized using prolonged CO2 exposure instead of the approved injectable method. Because naked mole rats are hypoxia tolerant, the exposure to CO2 took over 40 minutes for the animals to suffocate. Additionally, a rabbit died due to an increase in anesthetic gas during an operation when the gas was not reduced after a deeper level of anesthesia was achieved.
USU spokesperson Amanda DeRito confirmed that a researcher failed to follow the approved animal research protocol when euthanizing animals in the lab. DeRito stated that corrective actions were taken, which included suspending all IACUC-approved protocols for animal research in that lab pending a full review, re-training, and re-evaluation.
DeRito noted that the university's animal research accrediting body, AAALAC, has provided continuous accreditation for the last 40 years. She stated that Utah State acknowledges concerns regarding animal welfare and that corrective actions were instituted after the incidents were reported to federal authorities and the accrediting body.
The new Thomas and Patricia Willis Veterinary Medical Education Building has opened in Logan. The facility will house various animals for veterinary students to work with, including skunks, snakes, lambs, cows, lemurs, cats, hedgehogs, and porcupines.
