Following a report that Middlebury College sent to federal authorities last year disclosing its own lapses in laboratory research work and outlining a remediation plan, an animal research watchdog group is calling on the college to take tougher measures.
In a lab at Middlebury College last fall, researchers repeatedly botched animal research protocol and practices, particularly while performing castration surgeries on rats, according to the report that Middlebury sent to the National Institutes of Health on Nov. 19.
Researchers struggled with maintaining anesthetic depth and sanitary practices during castration of rats, confused recorded data sets and mixed up rats scheduled for surgery, according to the report.
The recurring “adverse events” recorded over the course of weeks spanning the beginning of September to late October of last year raised “concerns over inadequate training and confusion surrounding post-operative monitoring,” Middlebury’s associate dean of the sciences, Richard Bunt, wrote in the report.
The account went on to describe practices resulting in contaminated procedures such as vials of controlled substances left unattended on counters and pre-filled syringes left on bench tops in the vivarium, which were to be injected into the rats later that day.
Some rats were not given allotted feed and water over a span of a day, and feed was not increased for several rats with recorded weight loss, according to the report. There were also several rats that did not have their sutures removed after 17 days, when the appropriate amount of time to wait to perform the postoperative practice is seven to 10 days, Bunt wrote in the report.
In a letter that Stop Animal Exploitation Now! sent to Middlebury last week, the group’s executive director Michael Budkie called on the college to either discharge the researchers or prohibit them from the study of animal research.
Budkie started the watchdog group in 1996, with the goal of ending research on animals. He said his education in animal health technology revealed to him “ethical contradictions” with animal welfare practices in laboratories.
Budkie said he obtained the report through the group’s routine public records requests of animal research reports sent to the National Institutes of Health, which he provided to VTDigger.
“Unfortunately, the kinds of things that we see in the report by Middlebury College are not that unusual,” said Budkie. “The use of untrained staff, failure to follow protocols, failure to even anesthetize animals correctly and, in this case, even not being certain which animals are supposed to be worked on — that’s not science.”
In response to the letter sent by Budkie’s group, Middlebury College’s media relations director, Jon Reidel, provided a statement to VTDigger, acknowledging the events outlined in the report and noting that the National Institutes of Health supported the college’s proposal to remedy the situation.
“We took immediate corrective actions as soon we observed these issues in our lab and proactively reported these concerns to the National Institutes of Health as a measure of transparency,” the statement read. “The NIH has supported our plan and this matter is now resolved.”
In the report sent to the National Institutes of Health, Bunt wrote that Middlebury College’s immediate course of action was to cease using uncastrated rats in research.
The ongoing corrective measures Bunt described in the report included requiring the lead researcher and students on the project to retake two courses on guidelines for animal research, requiring inspection of sutures, facilitating communications about feeding schedules and continued development of a more robust animal research training program for students.
For at least a year, the lead researcher will also be required to visit the vivarium twice a day, seven days a week to monitor student research, and students will not be allowed to perform surgeries on rodents, according to the report.
Budkie said that the use of uncastrated rats for research is “just sidestepping the problem.” He added that he doesn’t think additional training and monitoring is sufficient recourse given the confusion that emerged after researchers had already received instruction on animal research protocols.
Middlebury, in its statement to VTDigger, said that its self-report of the violations and the corrective plan of action put in place demonstrates its commitment to following animal research guidelines.
“The health and welfare of our animals is a top priority and we continue to be attentive to maintaining the highest standards of animal care,” the emailed statement read.