LOGAN — A national animal research watchdog group has filed a federal complaint against Utah State University after a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection cited the university for two critical violations involving the deaths of 82 naked mole rats and a rabbit.
Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!, or SAEN, filed the complaint Aug. 13 with the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The group is asking federal regulators to investigate USU and impose what it says could amount to more than $1 million in penalties.
USU, however, said the incidents had been identified and reported by the university months before the USDA’s July inspection and that corrective actions had already been implemented.
The USDA conducted a routine inspection of USU’s animal research program July 7 at the university’s Logan campus. The inspection report classified both findings as “critical.”
According to the USDA report included with SAEN’s complaint, 82 naked mole rats were euthanized between Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, 2025, using carbon dioxide rather than the injectable euthanasia method approved in the research protocol.
“Naked mole rats are a hypoxia tolerant species, and the use of CO2 required a prolonged exposure of ~40 minutes to achieve death,” the USDA report states.
The USDA said failure to follow the approved protocol and make unapproved changes did not allow USU’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee to review those changes and ensure the animals did not experience negative effects on their health and welfare.
The report states that corrective action had been implemented before the July 7 inspection and that the issue was considered corrected as of the date of the inspection.
The second critical violation involved the death of a rabbit during an anesthetic procedure Dec. 11, 2025.
According to the USDA, the rabbit’s anesthesia became too light and the level of anesthetic gas was increased. The level was not reduced after a deeper level of anesthesia was reached, and the rabbit died during the procedure and could not be resuscitated.
The USDA said failure to appropriately monitor patients and adjust anesthetic levels can result in injury or death. As with the naked mole rat incident, the report says corrective action was implemented before the inspection and the violation was considered corrected July 7.
SAEN Executive Director Michael A. Budkie criticized USU’s handling of both incidents and called for a broader federal investigation.
“Both of these violations — one about bungled euthanasia of over eighty animals, and a second about botched anesthesia for a rabbit clearly demonstrate that Utah State University lab workers are incompetent,” Budkie wrote in the complaint.
SAEN is asking USDA/APHIS to levy what the organization identifies as the maximum fine of $12,722 per infraction, per animal. The group calculated that potential penalties could reach $1,055,926. The complaint represents SAEN’s request for enforcement and does not indicate that such a fine has been imposed by federal regulators.
Utah State University said its Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee identified and reported both incidents and voluntarily instituted corrective measures before USDA inspectors arrived.
“The IACUC identified the issues, reported the issues, and voluntarily instituted corrective action prior to the USDA inspection visit,” USU said in a statement. “University actions were commended in the USDA report which states ‘corrective action was implemented prior to this inspection.'”
The university said it is inspected at least annually through unannounced visits under the federal Animal Welfare Act and that both incidents cited in the July report had occurred months earlier.
“In the case of the July 7, 2026 report, both adverse events had been reported to USDA when they occurred months prior and corrective actions had been put in place,” USU said. “They were cited in the report only because there had not been any inspections since the incidences had occurred and been reported.”
USU also defended the role of animal research while emphasizing its commitment to animal welfare.
“Animal research is vital to advancing biomedical research and nearly every major medical advancement in the last century can be traced back to findings from animal research,” the university said. “Utah State is strongly committed to the humane and ethical treatment of research animals in its care.”
The USDA inspection report included with the complaint does not list a monetary penalty. Both violations are identified as critical, with the report noting corrective action had been implemented before the inspection.