Utah State University researcher irradiated guinea pigs, hamsters beyond approved levels, killing some

A Utah State University researcher exposed guinea pigs and hamsters to radiation outside of a project’s approved scope and also withheld pain medication after performing surgeries on the animals, according to a newly released report.

The report from the university says 75 rodents were irradiated and notes some died, though it doesn’t specify how many.

Now an animal rights and research watchdog group is calling for the employees involved to be terminated from the northern Utah school.

Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!, or SAEN, obtained USU’s required reporting on the research misconduct — called a “report of noncompliance” — through an open records request before sharing it publicly.

Michael Budkie, executive director of SAEN, called the violations “simply horrific” in a formal complaint to the federal government.

“The violations connected to this project are very serious and demonstrate that the PI [principal investigator] associated with this project believes that they are essentially above the law and can perform whatever procedures that they like,” Budkie added in a subsequent letter to USU, notifying the school of his complaint.

He is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, whose inspectors help oversee university research involving most animals, to conduct a full investigation and apply the maximum penalty for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

That law sets treatment standards for mostly warm-blooded research animals, outlining minimum care requirements for food, water, housing and veterinary care. Scientists are trained on how to minimize pain and distress when testing on animals, and any schools receiving federal research dollars must prove compliance for funded projects and report any misconduct.

Each violation can see a fine of up to $13,000, multiplied by how many animals were harmed. USU’s report states 22 guinea pigs and 53 hamsters were irradiated beyond approved levels, meaning the school could face a nearly $1 million penalty.

It is unclear, though, how eager the government may be to enforce those standards, particularly as President Donald Trump’s administration has made major moves to cut federal research funding and terminate projects. USU has lost about $15 million in research dollars so far, leading it lay off seven staff researchers.

The school said in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune that it followed all protocols when it first learned of the animal abuse concerns in December. Animal care staff at the school, said USU spokesperson Amanda DeRito, alerted the attending veterinarian and notified federal authorities.

The university’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, or IACUC, was also called on to investigate. Every school must have an IACUC to approve research projects and look into allegations of misconduct.

At USU, the committee “quickly put a stop to the research activities at issue while they reviewed the situation and took steps to prevent it from reoccurring,” DeRito said.

“Research animals are integral to advances in biomedical research and nearly every major medical advancement in the last century,” she said. “Utah State is strongly committed to the humane treatment of research animals in its care.”

But Budkie feels USU’s violations are among the more egregious that he has seen and thinks the school should be reprimanded. A subsequent investigation by USU, for instance, found that the misconduct had been ongoing since at least March 2022.

And it’s not the first time the Logan-based research university has come under fire for how its lab animals are treated.

What USU’s investigation found

USU’s investigation, completed this year, classifies the misconduct as “a significant incident of non-compliance of institutional policies and federal regulations.”

The investigation found:

• Between Oct. 29 and Dec. 3, 2024, 22 guinea pigs were irradiated without approval.

• Between March 2022 and September 2024, 53 hamsters were exposed to radiation. USU’s IACUC had allowed irradiation, but the primary researcher applied higher doses than approved to test how much was lethal. This killed several animals.

• The researcher also failed to administer required pain medication when doing embryo transfer surgeries on hamsters. They told investigators that’s because they were concerned about “potential impact on fetal development.” IACUC does not allow researchers to withhold such drugs.

The researcher, whose name is redacted in USU’s report, acknowledged failing to obtain approval and said the oversight was “unintentional.”

The work itself was not a federally funded project, but the costs for maintaining the guinea pig colony are partially covered by a National Institutes of Health grant. That’s why the school was required to report the misconduct to the USDA and the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, or OLAW.

The Tribune obtained a copy of OLAW’s response to USU through a public records request.

In that, the office says USU has taken “appropriate measures to correct and prevent recurrences of these problems” and the school is now again considered compliant.

“We appreciate being informed of these matters and find no cause for further action by this office,” the letter states.

But in a routine inspection of USU’s labs in July, the USDA found the school isn’t adequately detailing its protocols following the misconduct. This can lead to “lack of clarity” for researchers, inspectors wrote. The agency gave the school until Oct. 1 to course-correct.

Already, USU says it responded to the irradiation misconduct by disconnecting equipment, so no further X-rays could be performed. Since then, it also suspended guinea pig breeding and surgeries. The principal researcher has been limited, for now, to only noninvasive procedures.

That employee must also submit monthly reports on their procedures and complete extra ethics training. As of July, they were complying, USU noted. Monitoring will continue.

Budkie, though, feels the actions are a stain on USU’s reputation and urged interim President Alan L. Smith to take a more serious stand.

Previous concerns about rats, pigs

USU regularly conducts research projects involving animals. The USDA report, for instance, noted that inspectors also looked at 92 sheep and 76 goats while at the school this summer.

“The validity and effectiveness of research programs that rely on animals is greatest when those animals receive high-quality care in a properly designed and managed animal facility,” DeRito said. And that’s what USU aims for.

But the school has faced previous criticisms.

Starting in August 2023, animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, called out USU for using rats in undergraduate psychology courses.

The rats are locked in boxes, where students subject them to bursts of light to see how they react, according to PETA. The group urged the university to switch to “superior, non-animal teaching methods.”

It repeated those calls in March after the group received photos of one rat that appeared to have an untreated broken tail.

DeRito asserted that “PETA grossly misrepresents animal studies in this upper division psychology class.” The lab, she added, is only used for positive reinforcement studies and what students learn cannot be replicated through computer simulations.

Before that, in August 2024, PETA also blasted Utah State for an experiment on pigs that involved cutting open sections of the animals’ skin to create wounds without providing pain relief.

Another Utah school faces complaints

The state’s other main research school, the University of Utah, has also faced pressure from both PETA and SAEN.

SAEN filed a federal complaint against the U. in 2024 after a “bungled surgery” left gauze inside of a dog. The U.’s report noted the animal was euthanized due to infection.

The school’s IACUC called the event “serious but isolated.” But SAEN also filed a complaint last year after a monkey was found dead in its enclosure. The young adult male rhesus macaque’s collar accidentally got attached to a carabiner inside its cage.

And a USDA report documented a 2023 case where a pig was euthanized at the U. after its skin was accidentally severely burned.

PETA has previously called out the U. for a marmoset death in 2015; a macaque death in 2015; three rabbits dying between 2015 and 2017; two groups of mice killed in 2016 and 2017; a lamb death in 2017; and several monkeys dying between 2019 and 2020.

The U. received two critical citations from the USDA over the more recent monkey deaths and promised reforms.

“The University of Utah is committed to the safe and humane treatment of our research animals,” the school said then, “but unfortunate incidents do occur — albeit infrequently.”