ACTION ALERT:
Contact USDA to DEMAND MAXIMUM FINE against Lehigh University:
Dr Elizabeth Goldentyer
Director, USDA, Eastern Region
[email protected];
[email protected]
919-855-7100
Please LEVY a MAXIMUM FINE against this repeat violator, Lehigh University, for their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) when their negligence killed a hamster, denied food/water to another hamster, and their administration failed to follow the AWA and investigate the incident in a timely manner.
Federal complaint alleges Lehigh researchers violated research
animal rules
By
Laura Olson, McCall.com, January 15, 2016
Hamsters at Lehigh University research center received improper care, according to animal welfare group.
A national animal-advocacy group says two incidents involving hamsters at
a Lehigh University laboratory — and the actions of a researcher in response
to the incidents — violate a federal law protecting animals used in
research.
The Ohio group Stop Animal Exploitation Now has filed a complaint against
the university with the U.S. Department of Agriculture after obtaining a
document from the National Institutes of Health detailing incidents last
year in which a hamster was not properly euthanized and another lacked food
or water for 36 hours.
Two individuals were barred from a university animal research facility in
response to the incidents, but an internal review panel was not properly
convened to assess what happened, according to a July letter in which a
Lehigh administrator reported the incidents to the NIH.
Michael Budkie, co-founder of the organization that filed the USDA complaint
this week, said the internal panel should have been informed immediately of
the incidents.
"The system was not being utilized properly. What else happened that nobody
else found out about?" Budkie said. "If their staff cannot handle basic
animal husbandry, why should we believe they can perform science?"
University officials confirmed the accuracy of the letter and said it was
sent as part of the school's "commitment to self-reporting to federal
officials." NIH officials "expressed satisfaction" with the university's
corrective actions, according to Lehigh.
"Lehigh University remains committed to protecting the safety, health and
welfare of all animals," university spokeswoman Lauren Weaver said in a
statement.
Budkie's organization, which monitors animal welfare at research
institutions, learned of the incidents at Lehigh during one of its regular
requests for federal documents regarding laboratories at those institutions.
The July letter from Alan Snyder, vice president and associate provost for
research and graduate studies, details two incidents involving hamsters.
The first occurred in March, when an animal facility manager found a hamster
had been left without food or water for 36 hours, violating care procedures.
The manager reported the incident to the animal facility director, according
to the letter.
A second incident occurred in late April, when research staff tried to
euthanize a hamster using carbon dioxide. Afterward, the hamster was placed
in a bag in a freezer, but was later discovered outside the bag, indicating
that the animal did not die until it was in the freezer.
A manager also reported that incident to the same director. By May, the
unnamed director had barred two individuals, one involved in each incident,
from the animal facility, but had not convened a required review panel,
known as an institutional animal care and use committee, according to the
letter.
The director was described as a "principal investigator" responsible for
procedures when the first incident occurred, and also served as chairperson
of the review panel.
The panel was eventually informed of the incidents, though it's unclear how
that occurred. The letter states that its members noted "the potential for
reticence to report issues to the [Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee] when the facility director serves as IACUC chair."
As of July 24, when the letter was drafted, the facility director was
removed as the review panel's chairperson, but remained "a key resource" to
the panel in its oversight duties. The university also issued new guidance
to researchers on when incidents must be reported to the internal review
panel.
Budkie said those steps were inadequate, arguing that the director should
have been prohibited from working with animals. He also called for Lehigh to
consider eliminating its use of animals in research.
"The use of animals is old technology, and I would hope that a progressive
university like Lehigh would want to stay on the cutting edge," Budkie said.
In his organization's complaint to the USDA, Budkie urged federal regulators
to charge Lehigh with the maximum $10,000 fine for each infraction.
USDA spokeswoman Tanya Espinosa said the agency is reviewing the complaint
to see whether the actions described violated the federal Animal Welfare
Act.
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