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UNC Didn't Learn Its Lesson

     

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Useless Alcoholism Experiments on Animals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2005, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released its formal report, which detailed serious violations of federal law that were documented in the animal laboratories of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) during an 11-month PETA undercover investigation in 2003.

In its report, the NIH corroborated violations caught on videotape by PETA's investigator, including the following:

  • Seriously sick and injured animals were left to die without veterinary care or euthanasia.
  • Mice had oversized tumors that had ulcerated and burst.
  • Suffering animals were denied pain medication after surgeries.
  • There was insufficient staff to properly care for animals.
  • There was inadequate training of experimenters and husbandry and veterinary staff.
  • Animals were denied food, water, and sanitary housing.
  • There was improper record-keeping.
  • Baby animals died because they were weaned too early.
  • UNC failed to promptly report animal care problems to the NIH.
  • Internal policies and federal regulations were not adequately enforced.
  • Experiments on animals were conducted using expired protocols.
  • Animals lived in extremely crowded conditions, leading them to die of cannibalism and suffocation.
  • Animals' toes were amputated for identification purposes.
  • More animals were used in experiments than the protocols permitted.
  • Experimenters failed to provide environmental enrichment to various species.
  • Experimenters failed to adequately monitor their staff and animal procedures.

Given that the NIH issued an earlier report in 2004 citing UNC for identical infractions, which were documented during a 2001-2002 PETA undercover investigation at UNC, it was obvious that UNC was completely unwilling or unable to provide even minimal care for the hundreds of thousands of animals that it uses in experiments. What's even more unacceptable is that even though UNC had twice been caught blatantly violating federal regulations, the NIH refused to punish the university and all the while continued to pump hundreds of millions of federal tax dollars into UNC's research programs annually.

You Can Help!

It was obvious that UNC had no respect for OLAW's authority. The fact that UNC thought that it could get away with treating animals so cruelly shows an arrogance that permeates many universities that are given exorbitant amounts of our tax money and trusted to "do what's right." Every day, mice and rats die in our nation's laboratories—without even the most basic, rudimentary protections of federal law.

Please write to your members of Congress to ask them to amend the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to include rats and mice. These rodents are intelligent, social beings who deserve protection just as much as the dogs, rabbits, and hamsters currently included in the AWA do. Click here to find contact information for your representative and senators.

Please also consider making a donation to support PETA's vital work to stop this cruelty.