Animals are dying from incompetence at University of Georgia labs. Send a letter to the university to end this by replacing animal experiments with modern animal-free science.

Multiple dogs have cruelly and senselessly suffered burns during anesthesia experiments at the University of Georgia (UGA), an institution with an appalling record of animal welfare that resulted in a $12,000 fine and settlement agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The experiments, using beagle dogs aged 1 to 5 years old, were carried out to determine whether administering the opioid drug fentanyl and maropitant (a medication to prevent vomiting) could reduce the amount of anesthesia needed to keep dogs from responding to painful stimuli.

According to UGA records obtained by CAARE, six dogs were exposed to electrical current as a “noxious” stimulus by electrodes attached to their limbs while they were given different combinations of the anesthetic and drugs. But one dog sustained third-degree, deep tissue burns because the electrical current was left running for the duration of the experiment rather than being turned off promptly.

Not only did the researchers injure the poor dog through their negligence, but they failed to realize the seriousness of his burns until three days later. His deep tissue burns required surgical debridement and further treatment to heal.

And he wasn’t the only dog injured by the procedure. Two other dogs also suffered burns from the electric current.

This disturbing event is just one of the university’s serious violations of the minimum standards of the Animal Welfare Act. In the last three years alone, the USDA has noted violations at every single inspection of UGA, including 10 critical violations – the most serious violation inspectors can give. That’s a whopping 59 percent of the most recent violations.

These violations included (but were not limited to) two rabbits who died from incorrect central venous catheter placement, a ferret who died from poor anesthesia techniques, an emaciated deer suffering from pneumonia who died from a lack of observation, and two hamsters who died from an inappropriate blood collection method that was not approved by the institutional animal care committee.

It’s high time that UGA is held accountable for its poor practices and serious animal mistreatment in its animal labs.

Send a letter to UGA today demanding a permanent end to the cruel anesthesia experiments that burned dogs. Let them know they must put an end to their horrible record of animal care by replacing cruel animal experiments with modern, animal free methods.

Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research and Experimentation (CAARE), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, established to highlight and promote research without animals.

Please donate to support CAARE’s mission to reduce animal suffering by disseminating information about the power and progress of research without animals.