Middlebury College in Vermont, US, has permanently banned a researcher from entering its vivarium after a rat used for testing was left showing signs of pain during a botched killing, in research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The researcher, whose identity the college has refused to disclose, was carrying out a standard method used to kill rodents, which is rendering the rat unconscious with carbon dioxide gas, then cutting into his chest to collapse his lungs so he would not regain consciousness. During the procedure, a male rat moved and showed clear signs of pain as the researcher began cutting into his chest, according to a witness cited in a written report prepared by a college compliance official. The witness intervened, and the researcher placed the rat back into the carbon-dioxide chamber.
The rat was part of a study led by Professor of Biology Mark Spritzer examining how testosterone levels affect the brain with age, funded by a $387,000 NIH grant. Middlebury reported the incident to the federal agency, as required, and permanently revoked the researcher’s vivarium privileges, citing previous instances of noncompliance. The college did not specify which past incidents it had in mind, though it disclosed a string of problems in 2024, including rats whose sutures were not removed, and cages left without water bottles.
Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SEAN), a national group opposed to experimenting on live Nonhuman Animals in laboratories, obtained details of the case through a public records request and made them public last week. Its Executive Director Michael A. Budkie said to Vermont Public, “The manner in which it was performed was an embarrassment to the entire scientific community.”Budkie has written to NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya asking the agency to bar the researcher from receiving future federal grants and to demand that Middlebury refund the $387,000 grant.
