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.