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Vanderbilt Scientist Banned, Experiments Suspended After Animal Deaths
Media Coverage About SAEN Stop Animal Exploitation Now
ACTION ALERT:
Contact:
Dr. Robert Gibbens
Director, Animal Welfare Operations, USDA-APHIS
[email protected]
[email protected]
Please levy the MAXIMUM FINE against Vanderbilt University for their blatant
disregard of the Animal Welfare Act when their negligence caused 5 guinea
pigs to die, possibly by suffocation. Their behavior should NOT be tolerated
and MUST be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Vanderbilt Scientist Banned, Experiments Suspended After Animal Deaths
From Marianne Besas, TheCollegePost.com, January 13, 2021
The Vanderbilt University Research Administration has suspended an animal
experiment and a scientist from all “live hands-on animal work” after
multiple animals died throughout the protocol.
The document fully detailing the incidents was obtained and publicized by
Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SAEN), an Ohio-based watchdog that monitors
US research facilities for illegal activities and animal abuse.
While SAEN made this public only last January 12, the incident occurred in
August 2020.
Guinea Pig Deaths Due to ‘Failed Ventilator Testing Procedures’
The document found by SAEN revealed that five guinea pigs had died or were
euthanized because of “failed ventilator testing procedures” conducted on
August 17 and 18.
Executive Director of SAEN, Michael Budkie, expressed his concern over how
the guinea pigs may have suffocated.
The document also revealed that the Principal Investigator (PI) did not
report the unexpected deaths to the relevant authorities, such as the
Division of Animal Care (DAC) Veterinary Faculty or the Institutional Animal
Care And Use Committee (IACUC).
The PI also did not share the date, time, or nature of the procedures with
either the DAC Veterinary Faculty or VUMC Surgical Research Training
personnel.
As a result, “Observation of the procedures by a veterinarian or the
surgical research personnel did not occur as outlined in the approved
protocol and required in separate written correspondence from the IACUC to
the PI.”
Suspension of Protocol and PI ‘Rare’
Budkie noted that suspending a protocol is “relatively rare,” while the
permanent prohibition of a PI from all animal work is “virtually unheard
of.”
The IACUC ruled for the suspension until the protocol can be transferred to
a new and willing PI, and until the new PI can meet with the committee to
discuss additional requirements.
The complaint also cited Vanderbilt University’s “history of denying
veterinary care to animals,” highlighting two incidents gone wrong in the
past: one in which six rabbits suffered from severe eye irritation in
February 2020, and another when 17 gerbils died due to improper anesthesia
in June 2019.
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