Southeast cited by USDA for 5 violations

A report filed online by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows Southeast Missouri State University was cited for five violations after a routine inspection of the university's sugar glider and flying squirrel enclosures.

The Jan. 28 inspection report states there was an "accumulation of dried fecal material and fecal staining on the wooden shelter blocks within all the primary enclosures of sugar gliders and flying squirrel. According to the animal care checklist, none of the primary enclosures have been cleaned at all during the month of January."

The report also said there were several flies in both rooms housing the flying squirrels and sugar gliders. Only one strip of fly tape was installed in the room with the flying squirrels, the report said, but it was full of flies and no longer effective.

Both sanitation violations were to be corrected by Feb. 6.

University spokeswoman Ann Hayes directed questions to provost Bill Eddleman, but he was unavailable for comment Thursday.

According to Southeast's website, the university's biology department has an animal room that is equipped for limited animal care.

"The facility offers faculty and student collaborators the opportunity to research live animal behavior within a controlled environment," the website says.

Inspectors from the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conduct routine, comprehensive inspections of licensed and registered facilities and animals, assessing all areas of care and treatment covered by the Animal Welfare Act.

Inspectors identify and document all noncompliant items on the inspection reports, and in some cases, a licensee or registrant will correct a noncompliant item at the time of inspection, and the inspector can document that item was correct on the report.

Otherwise, the inspector will set a deadline for the noncompliant item to be corrected. At some point after the deadline, a re-inspection will take place.

Southeast's inspection report also detailed a third violation, saying a room housing the sugar gliders had an accumulation of dried feces scattered throughout the floor, and there were several house flies throughout the room.

An animal care checklist showed the room had not been cleaned since Jan. 12, the report said, and the problem was to be corrected by Feb. 13.

All citations listed on the report are considered "indirect noncompliance" items.

USDA public affairs specialist Tanya Espinosa said while the USDA takes all noncompliances seriously, they are broken into two categories: direct and indirect.

Espinosa said a direct noncompliance directly affects an animal's well-being, such as an untreated injury and no appropriate veterinary care.

An indirect noncompliance, while still important, is not directly affecting the health and well-being of an animal, she said, such as a paperwork noncompliance or chipping paint.

The university also has two repeat noncompliance items listed on the report.

According to the USDA, the most recent Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee meeting and program review were conducted May 16, or eight months before the inspection. The meeting and review are to be conducted every six months.

The report says a meeting and facility inspection were supposed to be conducted in December but were not because of scheduling conflicts. At the time of inspection, the next meeting and facility inspection tentatively were scheduled for February.

"It is important for the IACUC to conduct regular inspections of the facility to ensure the health and welfare of the animals," the report reads. "The registrant must ensure that the IACUC inspects, at least once every six months, all the animal facilities."

Jim Champine, chairman of the university's biology department, said in an email Thursday that the animals are used in research and are cared for by faculty and student workers.

The care is supervised by the committee, which comprises faculty, a local veterinarian and a community representative.

"This past January, the USDA inspector toured the facility with Dr. Timothy Judd, chair of the committee," Champine said. "It was noted by the inspector that the cages were dirty, and there were lapses in the cleaning schedule. The person responsible was contacted immediately, and all the issues were promptly addressed. The animal care protocol, specific instructions for cleaning and feeding, were rewritten to make clear when and how cleaning was to be done."

Champine said the committee toured the facility Feb. 5, and all the problems mentioned by the USDA inspector had been remedied.

"All parties involved want to make it perfectly clear that the health and well-being of the animals is the utmost concern of the researchers, the department of biology and the university," he said.

The citations were first listed in a March 2014 report.

Espinosa said there is no monetary fine that comes with an inspection report. But depending on the gravity of the violations or the number of times a facility is cited for a noncompliance, an investigation may be opened and can lead to fines.

klamb@semissourian.com

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