Nevada president defends school against animal abuse allegations

Saturday, Jan. 1, 2005 | 1:48 a.m.

In an e-mail message publicly released Thursday, Lilley maintained issues raised by the Reno Gazette-Journal articles already have been successfully addressed.

It was Lilley's first public comment about this week's series. Lilley did not return phone calls to the Gazette-Journal for the series, and he had ignored requests made to university officials for an interview.

The incidents at the College of Agriculture occurred over three years, the newspaper reported, and included some allegations reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture by a faculty member.

The teacher, Hussein S. Hussein, claimed that as a result the university retaliated against him and sought to have him fired.

A USDA investigation on alleged animal neglect and abuse is expected to take months.

"I anticipate a favorable report from the recently concluded USDA investigation ... much as we have from that agency's routine and unscheduled inspections in the past," Lilley wrote.

The newspaper's articles do not reflect current UNR farm and ranch operations, and many of the photographs and facts presented in the series are outdated, he contended.

"Our programs involving animals are monitored and reviewed regularly by outside agencies, and we act promptly to correct any deficiencies which they helpfully cite and to their satisfaction," Lilley wrote.

The USDA investigation began in September, a month after the Gazette-Journal began reporting on research at the school, finding, for example, that 38 pregnant sheep died in October 2002 in a paddock behind a locked gate without food or water for three days.

The newspaper also reported that from 1998 until recently, the college had supplied a federal predator control trapper with dead animal parts to be used as lures for coyotes.

Dean David Thawley, who has run the agriculture college since 1998, has denied the university violated any laws or regulations covering the treatment of animals - or took any retaliatory action against Hussein.

After the allegations surfaced, Thawley reduced Hussein's evaluation ratings, which effectively reduced a pay increase.

Hussein, the university's 2002 professor of the year, then filed a complaint with a Faculty Senate grievance committee.

In a November 2003 report, five faculty members on the panel sided with Hussein and concluded "the reduction of his annual evaluation was not fairly based on his teaching performance."

But Lilley overturned the committee's recommendation. Lilley decided Hussein's performance was "far from exemplary" and upheld the dean's evaluation report.

"Nonetheless, I have made it clear that I expect continued diligence in all animal welfare matters and that all state and federal regulations will continue to be scrupulously observed," Lilley wrote in his e-mail message.

College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources researchers are among the most productive at the university, Lilley said. They averaged nearly $400,000 each in grants and contracts in 2003, exceeding national averages.