ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In the wake of the animal advocacy group, Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SAEN) reporting that the University of Michigan “broke federal law seven times in two months in regard to the animals at their research facilities,” many Michiganders are surprised to find out that the university has even been involved in animal testing and research.

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SAEN, a non-profit organization whose mission is to END animal experiments through investigations, media exposés, and public pressure, obtained two USDA reports which detailed multiple violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act by the University of Michigan. The act regulates the treatment of animals in research, teaching, testing, exhibition, transport, and by dealers.

SAEN says that included in the issues listed in the reports were inadequate animal handling & veterinary care and problematic qualifications of the people handling the animals, including giving expired drugs to a calf and a botched euthanasia on a rabbit.

In a letter, SAEN has called on Dr. Robert Gibbens, Director of Animal Welfare Operations with the USDA-APHIS (US Dept. of Agricultures’ Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) to “Please levy the MAXIMUM FINE ($12,722 fine for each infraction) against the University of Michigan for their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act which led to seven violations in approximately two months, and took the lives of multiple animals and caused lab staff to be temporarily banned from animal use. Their behavior should NOT be tolerated and MUST be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

SAEN co-founder Michael A. Budkie said in a statement Tuesday, “These two inspection reports cite the University of Michigan for incidents connected to the loss of two animals, one animal who was not euthanized correctly, lab staff who were suspended from all animal use for utilizing an uncertified anesthetic machine, expired drugs which were administered, and unapproved procedures which were performed.”

According to the Detroit Metro Times, the university revealed in June it had suspended animal handlers from “performing any animal care and use activities” for a minimum of 60 days after they used an uncertified anesthesia machine while “performing survival surgeries that involved four rabbits,” according to a letter from the university’s Animal Care and Use Committee.

Detroit Metro Times goes on to say, “In April, researchers left a rat in a dirty cage and neglected the animal for four days, leaving it without food or water, according to the USDA. Inspectors said researchers also lost a baby rabbit while moving the animal to another enclosure and never found it.”

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SAEN’s Budkie said in the letter to the USDA, “Without access to food and water which are provided by lab staff, it is likely that the infant rabbit died of either dehydration or starvation.”

In March, a euthanasia on a rabbit was botched and discovered alive the next day. According to SAEN, if not properly euthanized, animals “wake up in carcass freezers.” Even more incidents were noted after a March inspection.

The University of Michigan was also recently involved in another scandal regarding animal experimentation when their former researcher, Dr. Chung Owyang, was found to have conducted fraudulent animal experiments. Retracted from a health journal were five publications that he authored because he appeared to have falsified or fabricated data on rat experiments. As of January, he was no longer employed by the university. SAEN has asked for a criminal investigation into the matter since the fraudulent research involved $5 million+ in grants.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has also investigated the University of Michigan as well. They sent a letter in February to the USDA and also the U of M President, Santa Ono and said, “According to records obtained by PETA through the Freedom of Information Act, U-M reported more than 18 violations of federal animal welfare guidelines in its laboratories to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare between March 2018 and June 2022, affecting nearly 12,000 animals.”

PETA went on to say, “Employees’ negligence has resulted in suffering and death for numerous animals at U-M. In one incident, 53 mice died or were euthanized after they suffered from dehydration because staff had dislodged their water supply during cleaning and failed to notice that the animals had no access to water. In another incident, 11,548 zebrafish died after staff failed to notice that a hose had fallen into the sanitation tank and that bleach had siphoned into the fish tanks. A rabbit was discovered missing from a cage that was also missing identification records and was never found. And at least 17 live mice were put into a plastic bag for disposal after experimenters improperly performed euthanasia.”

The letter from PETA continued, “The records reveal that several experimenters failed to follow the experimental methods outlined in the protocols that had been approved by U-M’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), suggesting systemic problems in the school’s experimentation program. In fiscal year 2022, U-M received over $644 million in taxpayer funds from NIH. Funding agencies – and the public – expect that institutions will comply with minimum animal welfare regulations and guidelines with the provision of such funding. The school’s failures are an abject violation of the public’s trust.”

PETA concludes the letter saying, “U-M’s negligence and disregard for basic animal welfare must not be allowed to continue. Such problems will persist unless strong deterrents are implemented. The school should inform principal investigators that if they violate federal animal welfare regulations or guidelines in connection with their laboratories, the IACUC will withdraw approval for the protocol, revoke the investigators’ animal experimentation privileges, and permanently prohibit their access to all animal laboratories. We ask that you urgently address this serious matter and implement PETA scientists’ Research Modernization Deal – a strategy for replacing animal experiments with modern, human-relevant, animal-free research methods.”

In 2019, PETA ranked the university as one fo the worst in the nation for animal testing.

The Detroit Free Press received a written statement from the university about the issues with their research lab and they said, “working with animals to advance scientific and medical knowledge is a responsibility that requires our constant attention” and “in accordance with federal regulatory expectations, any incidents are corrected immediately upon discovery, and U-M self-reports any incidents to appropriate authorities.”

The University has a statement about their animal research on their website that says, “The University insists upon the humane and ethical treatment of all animals and is committed to ensuring that any individual who is afforded the privilege of working with animals under university auspices does so ethically, respectfully, and responsibly. We take this responsibility very seriously and recognize that we have an ethical imperative to continually refine our practices to provide the highest standards of compassionate care; reduce the number of animals used to the minimum necessary; and replace animals whenever possible.”