NIH Orders UNC Lab Investigation

Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and graduate studies, said UNC received a letter from the NIH last week that calls for the University to review its animal care and use program.

The letter does not call for any specific changes but does request that UNC's Animal Care and Use Committee submit the results of the investigation by Aug. 2.

UNC was accused of mistreatment of lab animals after a PETA undercover investigator working in the University's labs released videotape of the alleged violations in April.

The video, shot by PETA undercover investigator Kate Turlington, shows researchers decapitating mice with scissors and footage of Turlington finding live mice feeding on a dead mouse.

UNC officials met with NIH representatives to discuss plans to investigate the allegations soon after the video was released. UNC officials also set up internal committees to look into the allegations.

One researcher was stripped of the right to use animals in experiments. The researcher's animal-testing rights have since been reinstated.

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, an organization that ensures the University remains in accordance with the policies and regulations instituted by the Public Health Service, has spent nearly 1,200 hours reviewing the tapes and examining all aspects of the charges made by PETA.

The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, a division of the Public Health Service, has instructed the IACUC to inform it of the results of its investigations after reviewing UNC's animal care and use program.

The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare recommended that the IACUC investigation include a full review of the institutional policies and practices related to the alleged violations, as well as interviews with current and former staff involved in the use of laboratory animals.

As a part of the proposed reforms, UNC will conduct an in-depth evaluation of all programs of animal care and use conducted on campus.

Waldrop has stated that UNC has an independent team of experts investigating the charges that is set to issue a report on the situation.

"The NIH has asked us to respond to the allegations, and we will certainly do so once the investigations have concluded," Waldrop said. "It would be premature for us to comment on the seriousness of these allegations until all the studies are finished."

PETA officials had hoped the contents of the video would derail an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act that would permanently exclude laboratory rats, mice and birds from U.S. Department of Agriculture oversight of animal treatment.

The Animal Welfare Act requires that the USDA regulate the use of warm-blooded animals in research, but the act has never been applied to rodents or birds, which constitute 95 percent of all research animals.

The legislation, proposed by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., passed in early May.

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