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  5. USDA Issues Rare Official Warning After 82 Mole Rats Suffocate at Utah State University: PETA Statement

USDA Issues Rare Official Warning After 82 Mole Rats Suffocate at Utah State University: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
September 8, 2026

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Logan, Utah –

Please see the following statement from PETA Vice President of Laboratory Oversight & Special Cases, Dr. Alka Chandna, regarding an Official Warning just issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) against Utah State University. The official warning, a rare enforcement action reserved for the most egregious violations, follows two critical violations of the Animal Welfare Act issued in July, in which 82 mole rats were slowly suffocated, and a rabbit was fatally overdosed:

While the USDA’s official warning doesn’t make up for the slow, terrifying suffocation deaths endured by 82 mole rats or the painful, fatal overdose of a rabbit, it sends a clear message that federal officials recognize the seriousness of these violations and that Utah State University’s treatment of animals is unacceptable. The university should embrace the superior, non-animal research methods outlined in PETA’s Research Modernization NOW and take the lead in advancing science without animals.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

For Media: Contact PETA’s Media Response Team.
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“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?”

— Ingrid Newkirk, PETA Founder and co-author of Animalkind

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