PETA Responds To UNC Report

University officials said Tuesday that they were unaware of the latest response filed by an animal rights organization related to allegations regarding the mistreatment of animals at UNC's laboratories.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals detailed "extensive factual errors, unsupported allegations and inconsistencies and contradictions" in its Jan. 14 response to a document submitted by the University last September.

The September report explained the changes made in response to complaints filed by PETA last April on animal treatment in UNC laboratories.

PETA released a video last spring of footage secretly collected by Kate Turlington -- an undercover investigator for PETA -- as she worked as a researcher in UNC's labs in the Thurston Bowles Building.

But PETA's 48-page review submitted to the National Institutes of Health on Jan. 14 discredits the University's response, said Hannah Schein, research associate in the Research & Investigations Department of PETA.

Schein said that PETA found several inadequacies and contradictions in UNC's response.

"(The prolonged suffering and/or the miserable death for animals) was demonstrated not only by out-an-out failure to treat ill animals or to euthanize moribund animals, but also by something as simple as failing to enter health information into the veterinary computer system," the PETA report states.

For example, the report states that Turlington met with Stephen Pomeroy, assistant director of laboratory animal medicine, on Feb. 12, 2002, to discuss her concerns about the finding of live animals in the dead animal cooler, a cervical dislocation in violation of protocol, a doctor's failure to euthanize a paralyzed rat and the suffering of mice from a genital infection. "Pomeroy did not respond to these concerns and never again acknowledged that the conversation had taken place," the report states.

PETA has been working several months on the new set of recommendations. The most recent report by PETA cites three major weaknesses found in the UNC laboratories between October 2001 and April 2002: a lack of oversight and accountability, the inhumane treatment of animals and some personnel problems.

According to the University's September response, some of those allegations could not be documented.

But Schein said the newest report released by PETA documents the allegations the group made last April and said PETA hopes UNC soon will observe both federal and University regulations. "We made a lot of recommendations, and I certainly hope something will happen," she said.

Representatives from the NIH could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Robert Lowman, associate vice chancellor for research at UNC, said he could not comment on PETA's most recent recommendations because as of Tuesday, he had not seen the report. "If we see it, we will read it and take into consideration any recommendations that have merit."

Whether UNC laboratories will receive the report is at the discretion of the government, Lowman said.

Last December, Lowman said UNC received a reply from NIH. In this report, the government agency said about one-half of the recommendations UNC addressed in its September report were adequate.

Lowman said that with the wide range of problems the University was trying to fix, he expected to see one-half of their recommendations approved.

"We think that we addressed all issues," Lowman said. "If you change a policy, it is going to take several months to get people trained in all the processes."

He said UNC works every day to address the concerns in PETA's original report. The University laboratories will submit a revised response to the NIH in February. "Animal care is not a static endeavor," Lowman said. "We are always starting new projects and ending old ones. There is always a moving target. You can never say, 'We are finished.'"

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