Rutgers assistant professor on leave after animal abuse allegations

Xiaobing Zhang, an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, was put on leave on September 14 after the University received a letter accusing him of animal rights violations at his previous lab, according to an NJ Advance Media article. 

Zhang had started working at Rutgers for less than two weeks before getting put on paid leave while under review. 

Two graduate students at his previous job as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University said that Zhang's lab didn't provide the recommended doses of pain relief to laboratory mice during his experiments, according to a report filed by investigators with Florida State. 

Other accusations include not sedating the mice before euthanasia and falsifying records to hide what was going on in the lab. The report detailed operations on 1,600 animals and the forgery of 110 documents. 

The report also said that Florida State officials shut down part of his research project after the investigation. 

The letter asking Rutgers to bar Zhang from its research facilities was from an animal activist group, Stop Animal Exploitation NOW. While Rutgers declined to comment on the process Zhang went through to get hired, it was assured that Zhang will not be involved in research and teaching while under review. 

"We take animal care and welfare matters seriously and report all incidents to the appropriate authorities, outlining actions taken to ensure necessary protections and the continued welfare of the animals in our care," a University spokesperson said.