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Report Cites UNC Response to Lab Inquiry

Although UNC's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee discredited many of the violations cited by Kate Turlington -- an undercover investigator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- University officials did find problems they said warranted changes.

In April, PETA released a video of footage secretly collected by Turlington earlier this year as she worked as a researcher in UNC's labs in the Thurston Bowles building.

IACUC spent between 1,500 and 2,000 hours investigating PETA's charges of animal mistreatment and cruelty. University officials have made some changes, but they are still working on investigating others, said Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research. Some problems, such as the disposal of dead animals, rodent breeding and overcrowding, are still works in progress, the report states.

Since the complaints were made, two lab workers were put on probation for a year, two more were suspended from laboratory animal privileges for three months and management has been changed in the Thurston Bowles facility because of the resignation of the supervisor, according to IACUC's report.

In response to many of the cited violations, the report states that Turlington was unaware of the IACUC regulations -- which officials say were being followed -- or that she misinterpreted certain procedures. The report noted that many questionable practices were in fact within UNC's protocol.

"Some of her conclusions were not correct," Waldrop said.

But PETA officials do not accept the idea that Turlington was off-base. "I think Kate Turlington's credibility is unimpeachable," said Mary Beth Sweetland, director of research and investigations at PETA.

Much of the report explains and refutes claims Turlington made in PETA's video.

In reaction to a complaint involving the decapitation of small mice with scissors, University officials stated that the lab workers have been trained in this procedure and that it is fully within regulations.

The report cited human error or novice mistakes as the reason for the violations in other cases.

In response to Turlington's complaint about finding a mouse still alive in the "dead cooler," the report states that it was unlikely this would have occurred but that it "cannot state with certainty that all animals were dead." The report also noted that "such events may occur through human error from time to time."

The report admitted that the problem of overcrowding "has occurred with some regularity at UNC" and added that "overcrowding reached by far its worst levels in Thurston Bowles."

The report states that the $10 penalty for individual researchers failing to separate the cages was not always enforced at Thurston Bowles. IACUC is considering raising the fee up to $100 for each cage.

No representatives from the NIH could be reached for comment Monday.

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

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