Two adult rats were beheaded by the unnamed Tulane researchers using scissors, instead of a guillotine under anesthesia, a “significant deficiency” of globally recognized Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols, the notice states.
When the guillotine was used, to euthanize eight other rats, the blade was found to be blunt; and anesthesia administered to more than 200 other rats was already beyond its expiration date.
From what the article says, the guillotine was dull. It sounds more like the researchers didn't like watching the animals suffer from a dull blade and instead used what they had to to make sure the death was as quick as they could. As for the expired anesthesia, that should be under a direct policy of the university. If they don't have a policy to track expiration dates of their lab solutions, then the university is 100% at fault and should have a deeper remediation than just saying "solved". They might be able to back it up, but they are in hot water until they do.
