PETA Releases Undercover Video of Animal Research at the University of North Carolina

Following a six-month undercover investigation of animal research at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has gone public with videotape and has accused the university of providing substandard veterinary care, husbandry, and housing. The allegations have prompted officials at the university to launch an investigation of their own.

PETA's undercover investigator was employed at UNC as an animal care technician. Her video footage depicts a number of graphic scenes, including the discovery of five rats found alive in a bin filled with supposedly euthanized animals. A researcher is shown killing a neonatal rat pup by dousing him/her with alcohol (instead of numbing the animal in a bucket of ice), then decapitating the animal and removing the brain with a pair of scissors. The footage also shows a paralyzed rat that allegedly went untreated for a weekend before being found dead.

The exposeé adds fuel to the animal protection community's opposition to a provision by North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms that would prematurely exclude birds, mice, and rats from receiving legal protection under the federal Animal Welfare Act. The video scenes shot in Helms's home state will be judged against the Senator's earlier assertions that such animals are well-treated in research facilities.

Sources: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, The Washington Post