COLUMBIA, S.C. — A series of experiments at the University of South Carolina in Columbia involving rats, cocaine and electric shocks has been stopped following a university investigation into complaints about lab-animal welfare.
The experiments involved laboratory rats receiving electric shocks as punishment for seeking cocaine, according to records from the National Institutes of Health, which provided the experiment with grant funding.
The experiments have been halted because the electric shocks were administered for longer periods of time and at greater strength than had been approved, according to emails between USC and the NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare.
“We determined that while the experimental procedures in question were within generally accepted research practices, they exceeded some parameters of what was previously approved by USC; therefore, modifications to the research protocol were mandated and additional oversight will be required if and when the faculty member wishes to resume the project,” university spokesman Jeff Stensland said in a statement.
According to the emails, the university received an anonymous report concerning animal use in the experiments on Nov. 28, 2022. On Dec. 8, USC sent a report to the NIH saying an internal investigation had found six rats had been shocked “at a higher amperage and for a longer duration” than had been approved.
Staff from the university’s Department of Laboratory Animal Resources found no injuries on the animals before or after the anonymous report, according to the emails.
The “primary investigator” voluntarily stopped the experiments upon the investigation, according to the emails.
“The experiment was stopped, and the faculty member cooperated fully with the investigation,” Stensland said in the statement. He would not confirm the faculty member’s identity.
Emails between USC and the NIH concerning the experiments were received by animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now, prompting its executive director, Michael Budkie, to write a letter to USC president Michael Amiridis on May 10.
In the letter, shared in a news release from the group on May 11, Budkie asks for the experiments to be stopped permanently and the researcher involved to be banned from conducting further animal testing.
“This principal investigator has demonstrated a total disregard for the well-being of the animals as well as a total disregard for following approved procedures/protocols,” Budkie said in the letter. “This must be punished.”
The news release by Stop Animal Exploitation Now also included the emails between USC and the NIH.
The goal of the research was to study brain chemistry and drug addiction, according to NIH records. The experiments were being conducted by the university’s psychology department and had received over $248,000 in federal funding in 2022. The study has been awarded a total of over $824,000 since 2019.
Stensland cited the university’s “excellent standing” with federal oversight agencies like the NIH, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care.
“USC is committed to upholding the highest standards in the ethical treatment and responsible use of animals on its campuses,” Stensland said in the statement. “All research involving animals is highly regulated and subject to rigorous approval and oversight procedures.”
