The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare released a summary report of its six-month long investigation into a University of Wisconsin-Madison experiment Monday that found no violations in the university’s use of cats in sound localization research.
The investigation stemmed from allegations that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals leveled against UW-Madison in September 2012, claiming the university mistreated cats in its research, specifically through drilling holes into the cats’ skulls and intentionally deafening them. The allegations also led to investigations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health, both of which found no major violations.
OLAW investigated each of PETA’s allegations and found no significant issues existed. But, it recommended a number of changes to improve the university’s procedures, including better control of infection in the environment and improved cleaning methods around surgical areas.
Invasive surgeries on the cats involved in the research were suspended for six months during the investigation, but were re-instated after the university implemented OLAW’s recommendations.
PETA spokesperson Justin Goodman said while the group is “happy” the NIH recommended improvements to the experiment, it will not stop pursuing the issue until the experiment is terminated.
“Compelling the NIH to take this drastic action is progress, but our work there will not be done until that laboratory is empty,” Goodman said.
UW-Madison also released a statement about the investigation Monday, which stated PETA’s allegations were found to be “baseless.”
“The conclusions cited in the OLAW report reflect our view that the animals in the study are in excellent health, are well treated and cared for, and used to further important research in an appropriate and humane manner,” Dan Uhlrich, associate vice chancellor for research policy, said in the statement.
The suspension on invasive surgeries was lifted and the experiment will continue as planned, Research Animal Resource Center Director Eric Sandgren said.
