Feds open investigation against UW-Madison campus animal care - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports

MADISON (WKOW) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health opened an investigation into the University of Wisconsin–Madison's record of citations regarding the use of animals in research, which could lead to fines or other sanctions.

The investigation comes a day after an animal rights group called on federal investigators to investigate potential animal welfare violations related to the treatment of cats in invasive brain experiments at UW-Madison.

The university is hosting its first forum of the new academic year Friday night examining the ethics of animal research. It will feature philosopher Lori Gruen, who is the author of the 2011 book, "Ethics and Animals: An Introduction." 

The forum will look at the two sides of the issues that generally go along with animal research debates. The debates tend to be cast in terms of a trade-off between the suffering and destruction of the animals used and the promotion of human health and well-being.

Gruen will argue that this approach to framing the debate can be problematic, and that a deeper recognition of the moral costs of animal research could help to move the discussion forward.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is Friday at 7 p.m. in the Town Center of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.