Earlier this week, PETA released a statement that they were upset with Boston University after 16 naked mole rats died due to “acute heat stress,” leading to a citation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA citation came from an inspection on May 18 stating that about five months earlier “the temperature in a room housing naked mole rats rose to temperatures incompatible with the health of that species.”
The room, the citation said, is typically set to about 87 to 91 degrees. But temperatures rose beyond that on Dec. 8, 2021.
“Animals were exposed to ambient temperatures above this range between 11:10 a.m. and 1:50 p.m.,” the report read. “When the issue was identified by facility staff, immediate measures were taken to reduce the room temperature and provide veterinary and supportive care.”
The report stated that 16 naked mole rates died as a result of “acute heat stress.”
“If Boston University laboratory staff can’t even maintain room temperatures at levels that don’t cook animals to death, the school should lose its license to conduct experiments on animals,” PETA said in a statement.
PETA has also spoken out against UMass and research conducted by Dr. Agnès Lacreuse into Alzheimer’s disease and potential treatments for it in marmoset monkeys.
Last September, Casey Affleck, the Oscar-wining, Massachusetts-born actor, joined PETA members and supporters to protest animal research conducted at the school.
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