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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A federal inspection at a USC research facility found that personnel did not follow procedures involving three rabbits who experienced problems after eye surgery and later died, denying them proper veterinary care, an animal rights group said Wednesday.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture report obtained by Stop Animal Exploitation Now -- a national nonprofit that investigates animal abuse and illegal activities at U.S. research facilities -- the negligence caused three rabbits to experience "unrelieved post-surgical complications that caused discomfort, distress, and pain."
The USDA inspection report, based on a routine inspection and dated Sept. 11, found that "a protocol involving eye surgery on 03/11/2024 for three rabbits ... was not followed as approved as the rabbits experienced unrelieved post-surgical complications that caused discomfort, distress, and pain to the rabbits," including "severe ocular discharge, crusting, matted fur, and debris stuck around the experimental (right) eye" on one rabbit.
Another rabbit was found with "decreased appetite and lower cecotrope production."
The report also faulted the USC research team for failing to identify, document, or report abnormal findings concerning the animals' health status.
"Although the lab had been applying eye drops and seeing the animals daily, the skin, the around the experimental eye was not being sufficiently cleaned, leading to complications, and necessitating euthanasia prior to the planned experimental endpoint," the report stated.
The third alleged critical violation involved failing to communicate the problems to the attending veterinarian in a timely manner.
All three rabbits were subsequently euthanized.
The university provided the following statement to City News Service:
"USC is committed to the ethical and humane treatment of animals in research. USC has added oversight and further precautions to the process in an effort to prevent these violations from happening again."
SAEN has filed a federal complaint with the USDA and is requesting that the school receive the maximum penalty under the law of $12,722 per infraction/per animal. Since all three violations list all three rabbits, the maximum penalty could exceed $114,000, according to SAEN.
"The University of Southern California must be fully investigated and prosecuted. These violations may well be indicative of a larger systemic pattern of animal abuse and neglect within USC's facilities," SAEN said.
A representative for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service told City News Service: "We are currently in the process of investigating complaints we have received. Any inspection findings will then be reviewed for the potential need to seek enforcement action."
The report can be viewed at saenonline.org/news-media-news- 2024/University-of-Southern-California-Federal-Complaint-10-30-2024.pdf.
In 2021, SAEN settled a lawsuit against USC that claimed the school abused animals in its research and violated its mandatory research protocols. No terms were divulged.