New Rutgers prof suspended over animal abuse allegations

✅ Xiaobing Zhang was suspended at FSU before coming to Rutgers

✅ He denied pain relief to 1,500 animals, according to the allegations

✅ Zhang was hired by Rutgers Medical School to start work Sept. 3

A newly hired Rutgers professor has been placed on paid leave after receiving a letter from an animal rights group that said he was barred from performing animal research for a year because he violated federal regulations.

Xiaobing Zhang is listed on the university website as an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark.

The group Stop Animal Exploitation Now, in a detailed letter to Rutgers, said Florida State University advised the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare in March that Zhang did not provide a painkiller to mice after an operation. Zhang also instructed lab personnel to falsely report the post-operative analgesia had been administered.

Members of the committee who attended an emergency meeting a few days later voted unanimously to suspend Zhang, according to the letter. The full committee voted later to suspend his animal use privileges.

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Animals denied pain relief

The group in a summary of Zhang's violations said over 1,500 animals were denied proper pain relief.

"Animals were not always checked for anesthesia before decapitation. Proper surgical procedures, including sterilization of instruments, were not followed. Non-sterile needles were used for multiple injections," according to SAEN in its letter which also included backing documentation.

In a statement to NJ.com Rutgers spokeswoman Megan Schumann said Zhang officially began on Sept. 3 and had not conducted any animal related research at the school. The allegations were "under review."

"Rutgers policies state all researchers must fully comply with all requirements of the Animal Welfare Act, Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The university is committed to ensuring researchers are and remain in compliance," Schumann said in a statement.

NJ.com was first to report on the suspension.

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