Widespread Incompetence and Cruelty at University Labs Nationwide: PETA Study
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) doles out billions of tax dollars every year to bankroll laboratories at the nation’s institutions of higher learning, and American taxpayers deserve to know if the recipients of that money are, at minimum, complying with minimum animal welfare standards.
After PETA analysts examined public records concerning the 20 institutions that gobbled the most NIH money in fiscal year 2023, we concluded that the answer is a resounding NO.
We found a shocking number of animal welfare violations—involving animals in pain, injured, and even killed because of neglect, incompetence, and disregard by experimenters and staff. These institutions racked up a combined 231 violations documented in case reports from one recent two-year period. But that did not keep NIH from continuing to throw money at them—more than $11.8 billion in 2023 alone.
For our study—published in the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law’s Journal of Animal and Environmental Law—we analyzed violations from NIH case reports dated October 2021 through September 2023.
Below are just a handful of violations committed by each of the worst of the worst-offending universities. Your tax dollars at work, folks!
5. The University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill committed 17 total violations, including:
- Sixteen mice were found dead, lethargic, or immobile after being given a drug via oral tube. The surviving mice were euthanized. A necropsy showed that the animals’ esophagi had been punctured due to poor technique.
- A boar was discovered in distress after a lower tusk became caught in a chain on a cage. The animal was treated for hyperthermia but went into acute renal failure and was euthanized.
- A mouse was discovered dead in a cage that had been run through a high-temperature, high-pressure steamer used to sterilize equipment. It was unclear whether the mouse was already dead or still alive when the cage was sterilized.
4. The University of Michigan committed 19 violations, including:
- In several instances, surgical wounds reopened and laboratory staff attempted to close them without approval from veterinarians or the animal oversight committee.
- A staff member tried to euthanize four rabbits but did not perform a secondary method of euthanasia to confirm their deaths. One rabbit was found alive and was later euthanized by a veterinarian.
- On seven separate occasions, experimenters administered expired anesthetics or pain medications to animals. In just one incident, approximately 200 mice were given an anesthetic two months past the expiration date.
3. The University of Pittsburgh committed 28 violations, including:
- A monkey escaped during a cage change and was injured by another monkey, requiring the partial amputation of four toes.
- Staff found two live baby mice in a carcass bag after a failed attempt to kill them by carbon dioxide gassing. A secondary method of euthanasia hadn’t been performed to confirm death. In a separate incident, a live rat was found in a cooler intended for dead animals.
- On eight separate occasions, animals died or were euthanized due to dehydration or starvation. In one incident, seven mice were found dead and one was euthanized after being left without food.
2. The University of Washington committed 29 violations, including:
- An unqualified postdoctoral fellow performed 30 cranial surgeries on mice. The individual failed to sterilize instruments, properly prepare incision sites, and provide local anesthetic and post-operative pain relief.
- A monkey died after an untested anesthetic machine malfunctioned while being used to administer inhalant anesthesia, causing excessive pressure to build up in the monkey’s lungs.
- Five mice died of hyperthermia after a technician placed their cage under a heat lamp and left them unattended.
1. The University of Wisconsin–Madison committed 35 violations, including:
- Thirty-five infant rhesus macaques did not receive appropriate pain medication following cerebrospinal fluid collection.
- A macaque with a tail injury was supposed to receive an antibiotic for five days, but the final two days’ doses were given to her uninjured cage mate instead.
- Six rats died as a result of errors in mixing xylazine and ketamine for anesthesia administration.
Publicly funded laboratories that flout public expectations about animal treatment don’t deserve another dime of taxpayer money.
What You Can Do
If you’re a U.S. resident, please TAKE ACTION and urge members of Congress to adopt PETA scientists’ Research Modernization Now, a commonsense, easily implemented roadmap to transition away from cruel animal tests to superior, cutting-edge, non-animal methods.
Everyone can encourage universities to prove their commitment to reducing, replacing, and refining animal use and move toward compassionate and effective non-animal research:
