Between February 14 and March 19 of this year, 10 cows that were part of a herd of beef cattle being studied by a University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist died at Franbrook Farm, a university-operated facility near New Glarus, Wis. The cattle had been housed at this facility for more than four years without incident, but in February they were discovered to be excessively thin, evidently the result of not having been fed a nutritionally adequate diet. Six of the 10 cows apparently died due to complications during calving.

The incident was reported to the National Institutes of Health”s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare and to the Association for Assessment of Laboratory Animal Care on June 20, 2005, after an internal investigation by the university and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. The university and CALS have changed existing policies and procedures to prevent a recurrence of this incident, and have also taken disciplinary action against the personnel involved.

“It is clear to the administration of the college that those charged with the supervision and management of the herd did not meet expectations and requirements for care and feeding of the animals,” said Elton Aberle, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. “Further, those individuals failed to communicate concerns and problems encountered at Franbrook to supervisors, the animal care program in CALS, or CALS administration. It is never acceptable to have our animals suffer from neglect, as clearly happened here.”

As soon as the situation was discovered, the college initiated corrective action and an investigation that led to disciplinary action, Aberle said. Responsibility for managing the herd has been reassigned, and new procedures have been implemented and their use documented. The new procedures include routine testing for forage quality and assurances that diets are formulated and fed to meet nutritional requirements; stronger supervision of animal operations and regular reporting and monitoring of animal care; and increased training and monitoring of employees.

In addition, Aberle said, the technician responsible for the herd is no longer employed by the college, and his animal care and handling privileges in CALS facilities have been permanently revoked. The former principal investigator for the herd has had his animal use and handling privileges revoked for one year, and he will have to meet performance criteria established by CALS before he can apply to have privileges reinstated.

The UW-Madison All Campus Animal Care and Use Committee reviewed both the college”s investigation and the steps taken to correct the problem. “I agree that the steps taken will ensure that this type of incident does not occur again,” said Dr. Eric Sandgren, the committee”s chairman.

“We acknowledge the seriousness of this occurrence and remain committed to the corrective actions we implemented to prevent this from happening in the future,” says Aberle. “The college is committed to maintaining exceptionally high standards for animal care in all of our animal facilities.”