UNC Starts Investigation of Labs, Animal Treatment

But it was unclear Sunday whether government agencies will launch investigations of their own.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released video footage Thursday taken from a hidden camera that showed UNC laboratories personnel dealing with lab mice in a way that PETA later claimed constitutes mistreatment.

The video included footage of, among other things, lab workers decapitating mice with scissors and an undercover investigator finding live mice feeding on a dead mouse.

Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research, said Friday that the University has well-established policies and procedures to deal with allegations of misconduct.

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee -- composed of faculty, staff and a community representative -- met Friday morning and set up committees to look into the allegations, Waldrop said. Waldrop said he was not aware of most of the accusations until he saw the PETA Web site Thursday.

But officials at federal regulatory agencies said Friday that they do not have enough information yet to determine whether investigations are warranted.

A spokesman for the National Institutes of Health said that the agency had not received any official complaints and that no decision about possible investigations had been made.

UNC received $236.8 million from the NIH in 2001, the 12th highest total in the nation.

The NIH spokesman, who asked not to be named, said gaining NIH accreditation -- which a university must have to receive NIH funding -- is a lengthy, complicated process and that laboratories must file assurances they will comply with NIH standards.

The spokesman said that NIH-accredited laboratories are subject to periodic investigation but that he has "no idea" if the NIH will launch an investigation into UNC's laboratories in light of PETA's accusations.

He said allegations like the ones made against UNC last week are not common, adding that it has been several months since similar claims had been levied against a research facility.

In spite of the allegations, Cate Alexander, spokeswoman for Americans for Medical Progress, a nonprofit organization that lobbies to preserve the role of animals in medical research, said animal testing is a key part of medicine.

"We've come to think that (medical progress) happens without a great deal of animal testing, but that's simply not true," she said.

But Alexander said proper care of laboratory animals is crucial to medical research. "The outcome of research depends on good health of the animals."

She said that the public should not jump to any conclusions about the innocence or guilt of UNC's lab staff and that the source of the accusations must be taken into account when evaluating the accusations.

"We know that PETA is opposed to research with animals, period," she said.

But Waldrop said University officials take all allegations seriously -- regardless of where they come from -- and that the committee will address each of the allegations listed on the PETA Web site.

"We are absolutely committed to the highest quality of care for animals used in laboratories."

Members of Carolina Animal Rights Effort, a student organization concerned with animal rights, said they are still gathering information about the allegations and will meet this week to discuss whether the group will encourage further investigations, said Bennett Mason, a member of CARE.

But Mason said that he was not surprised by the allegations and that he thinks much of the animal testing at UNC labs is "gruesome and barbaric."

Mason said he thinks PETA's allegations were sparked by an amendment, written by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., to this year's federal farm bill.

The amendment would permanently exclude laboratory rats, mice and birds from U.S. Department of Agriculture's oversight under the Animal Welfare Act.

But the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a division of the USDA, does not protect rats and mice under the AWA now, even without the amendment, said Laura Reiser, a spokeswoman for the APHIS.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.