Animal rights group claims UF researchers violated federal law

An animal rights group has accused UF researchers of violating federal law after they cut into the brains of live cats without authorization.

In procedures that took place in 2014, the researchers placed seven cats under anesthesia before removing large chunks of their brains, according to an incident report filed with UF’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

The procedures were part of research to aid in pneumonia treatments in humans, wrote UF spokesperson Janine Sikes in an email. But the researchers weren’t authorized to perform the procedures, the report states.

The group, Stop Animal Exploitation Now, filed a federal complaint Jan. 24 against UF on allegations it claims violate the Animal Welfare Act, said the group’s leader Michael Budkie. The complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The group requested reports from UF researchers that discussed the unauthorized procedure, which then spurred the legal action. The procedures were approved prior to 2014, the report states.

Once the researchers’ error was noted, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee met in 2016 and determined the “problem was an oversight.” The procedures were approved prior to 2014.

“This is something that we consider to be Frankensteinian in nature,” Budkie said, “and then we see that for seven of the cats involved in this, in this gruesome procedure, the procedure itself was not even approved.”

According to the report, the incident was an isolated case resulting from researchers not reviewing protocol. The report stated no UF employees were reprimanded.

Sikes said UF is committed to following federal animal research laws, and that UF self-reports incidents.

“Additionally, the university also took appropriate measures to prevent recurrence, which may have included additional training, updating protocols and disciplining employees or students,” Sikes said.

Budkie said he hopes to see UF receive the maximum fine of $10,000 per infraction per animal.

“This could be a very significant filing,” Budkie said.

Budkie said the cat research didn’t apply to humans. In a report from the study, which Budkie said he received, investigators said the system was unique and differed from the animal’s biology.

“That means that this research is not worth, literally, not worth the paper that it’s printed on,” Budkie said.

Sikes said the research was to understand the airways of animals and humans, which ultimately relates to studying pneumonia.

Sikes said the study also looked to understand how the nervous system causes refl exes such as coughing or swallowing, which prevents humans and animals from aspiration, or accidentally sucking food particles or fluid into their lungs.

“Aspiration of food or liquid cause pneumonias which can occur in as many as 55 percent of patients in long-term care facilities,” she said. “These pneumonias can be life threatening. Animals also suffer from aspiration.”

Sikes said UF’s research will help treatments be developed for animals and humans. “There is a strong link between therapies that are developed for human use and translation of these treatments into veterinary medicine,” Sikes said.

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rellenbogen@alligator.org