NORFOLK, Va. — A national watchdog group that monitors research facilities for illegal activity and animal abuse, filed a federal complaint against Old Dominion University.
The group Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SAEN) said ODU admitted to negligent deaths of multiple rabbits in a botched experiment and that, during the experiment, ODU sprayed hydrochloric acid into the lungs of the rabbits.
As a result, three rabbits died from lung injuries, and one died from a broken leg that severed major blood vessels.
According to SAEN, the Old Dominion Researcher Administration stopped the project following the fourth rabbit's death.
In addition to the animal abuse, SAEN said ODU violated the following federal regulations: "animal handling, feeding, personnel qualifications, and research supervision by the ODU Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC)."
In regard to feeding, ODU acknowledged forgetting some feedings due to miscommunication and misunderstandings on the part of research staff.
In a letter to the National Institute of Health, ODU said following the miscommunication, the lab group and others involved in the experiment met up to discuss who was in charge of feedings.
During that meeting, staff discovered the rabbits were not fed on at least one day since the start of the experiment, but it's possible they weren't fed on three separate occasions.
ODU also stated that their post-doctoral fellow was eventually removed from the project because he was from Russia and did not speak fluid-English.
Following an intervention, and some additional training, the fellow was reinstated.
The subcomittee that was investigating the project decided ODU could continue with the project under a list of conditions regarding feeding and weighing of the rabbits. There also must be more monitoring of the post-doctoral fellow.
SAEN's federal complaint calls for a full U.S. Department of Agriculture Investigation into the experiment and rabbit deaths.
“The USDA should throw the book at Old Dominion University for these negligent and utterly unnecessary animal deaths and injuries," said Michael A. Budkie, SAEN co-founder, in a news release.
Budkie mentioned that the university could have used other methods to conduct their experiment.
“Not only did the laboratory fail to use viable alternative technology, but once the rabbit project started it was hopelessly botched," said Budkie. "The staff can’t handle rabbits without killing them, and can’t even remember to feed the animals. Why should we believe that they can do science?”
SAEN said it got its information from an unpublished report that was obtained using the Freedom of Information Act.
After receiving this information, 13News Now reached out to ODU for comment. They replied with a copy of a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services, specifically, from the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare.
In that letter, OLAW said "based on the information provided, OLAW is satisfied that appropriate actions have been taken by Old Dominion University to investigate this incident and prevent recurrence."
The letter goes on to commend ODU's program for reporting the incident and said they "appreciate being informed of this matter and find no cause for further action by this office."
Additionally, Morris Foster, the vice president for research at ODU gave us a comment, saying "Old Dominion University self-reported details regarding this incident, as well as internal actions taken in response by our institution, to the appropriate Federal agencies. We were informed that our institution responded appropriately and we are not aware of any subsequent actions."
