Without a doubt, there are no good laboratories for the animals imprisoned in them. Learn which university facilities are mutilating owls, sewing baby monkeys’ eyes shut, cutting into pigs, and more—then take action to help shut down this senseless cruelty.
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1. Harvard University
Newborn baby monkeys at Harvard University are torn from their loving mothers’ arms. Some of these infants have their eyes sewn shut, while others are raised by experimenters wearing welding masks. In both cases, the terrified animals don’t see any human or monkey faces for an entire year, damaging their development. This is the work of Harvard experimenter Margaret Livingstone, who conducts these depraved sensory-deprivation experiments to tell us what we already know: Being confined to total darkness is damaging.
In cruel experiments that have no relevance to human health, baby monkeys in Livingstone’s laboratory are torn away from their mothers and raised in emotionally impoverished conditions, without the possibility of seeing any faces—human or monkey—for a full year.
2. Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is hooked on animal abuse, and it’s time for a serious intervention. University experimenters have given prairie voles the equivalent of 15 bottles of wine a day, and they’ve subjected monkeys to a plethora of abuse within the school’s primate research center. If that weren’t enough, PETA recently discovered that university doctors-in-training mutilate live pigs by using them as human stand-ins during obstetrics and gynecology residency training. They cut into live female pigs, dissect their organs, perform invasive surgeries on them, and then kill any survivors. OHSU apparently isn’t aware that humans and pigs have very different anatomies.
3. University of Massachusetts–Amherst
Tiny marmoset monkeys don’t experience menopause, yet experimenter Agnès Lacreuse at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst still zip-ties them into restraining devices, shoves them into plastic cylinders, and implants electrodes in their skulls in attempts to study age-related changes in human cognition. She removes the monkeys’ ovaries and uses hand warmers—yes, hard warmers—on these animals to mimic hot flashes. It’s no wonder that these experiments haven’t amounted to anything useful. The laboratory is only accomplished in doing two things without fail: killing delicate monkeys and racking up animal welfare violations.
4. Louisiana State University
Birds “born” on the bayou may end up dead in a laboratory, thanks to Louisiana State University experimenter Christine Lattin. Fond of kidnapping and terrorizing wild birds, she conducts experiments that have included feeding crude oil to birds and starving sparrows. In her latest tests, she injects chemicals into sparrows’ heads to damage their brains. She then exposes them to various objects, such as cocktail umbrellas and pipe cleaners, to frighten them and record their reactions. After this torment, she kills them and chops up their brains.
5. University of Wisconsin–Madison
Newborn baby monkeys were torn from the arms of their panic-stricken mothers. Frustrated monkeys mutilated themselves compulsively and plucked themselves bald. Stressed animals were forced to live together in small cages, resulting in fights and injuries. Babies were starved, and their limbs were broken. Animals were killed due to staff negligence. This is a snapshot of life before experimentation for the thousands of monkeys trapped within the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. If they survive these grisly conditions, they will then endure an array of painful procedures. As just one example, experimenters restrain monkeys and electroshock their penises until they ejaculate.
6. University of Washington
Cut from the same soiled cloth, the Washington National Primate Research Center at the University of Washington (UW) is yet another ghastly monkey prison with a long history of animal welfare violations. Monkeys have been strangled to death, died of thirst, been mauled by other stressed monkeys, and choked to death on their vomit. To add insult to injury, the center also has a facility dedicated to experimenting on baby monkeys. UW’s other laboratories are also rife with issues, having let animals starve, suffocate, and slowly bake to death under a heat lamp.
7. Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University experimenter Shreesh Mysore cuts into the skulls of barn owls, screws metal devices onto their heads, inserts electrodes into their brains, forces them to look at screens for hours a day, and bombards them with noises and lights. In some experiments, he restrains fully conscious owls for up to 12 hours in cramped plastic tubes that prevent them from moving. In the end, he kills them. Since owls are nothing like humans, these abominable experiments do nothing to further the understanding of human disorders.
This owl is one of many imprisoned in Shreesh Mysore’s laboratory, where he cuts into their skulls and screws metal devices onto their heads in curiosity-driven experiments that have no relevance for human health.
8. Utah State University
In a cruel Utah State University psychology course, rats are imprisoned inside barren metal boxes and blasted with random bursts of bright light while being trained to push a lever to receive food pellets. Although the course had previously used an effective and humane “online rat simulator,” the university made the backward decision to torment animals instead.
9. Simpson College
Simpson College in Iowa also imprisons rats inside tiny boxes. In a psychology course, students attempt to train them to push a lever to receive a drop of flavored water. After the course ends, the rats who don’t get adopted are killed.
“None of us really like talking about that too much,” Don Evans, Simpson’s chair of psychology, said publicly.
By Original: AndreasJS Vector: Pixelsquid – This file was derived from: Skinner box scheme 01.png: by AndreasJS, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99322433
Yeah, don’t worry, we’ll do that for you. We’ll keep talking about this until the university ditches this cruel curriculum and switches to effective, non-animal methods.
10. Lackeys bankrolled by the U.S. Navy: Duke University, University of California–San Diego, University of Maryland–Baltimore, and University of South Florida
The U.S. Navy pays these four universities to do its dirty work and conduct sickening decompression experiments on animals. In tests at the University of California–San Diego and Duke University, experimenters force rats and mice to run on a treadmill and electroshock them if they can’t keep up. Experimenters also lock them inside pressure chambers and induce seizures in baby mice. At the University of Maryland–Baltimore, experimenters lock mice in decompression chambers, probe their rectums, drill into their skulls, and inject chemicals into their brains and eyes. At the University of South Florida, experimenters cut open rats and run wires through their bodies, induce seizures in them, and drill into their skulls. In the end, experimenters at all four universities kill the animals—sometimes by bleeding or gassing them to death.
This doomed animal in a hyperbaric chamber is one of the countless rats who University of South Florida experimenter Jay Dean has used to supposedly study oxygen toxicity in humans, even though human-relevant, animal-free methods are widely available.
Looking to Do Even More?
PETA’s Research Modernization Deal is a comprehensive plan to phase out all animal experimentation in favor of modern, human-relevant methods. Please voice your support today.
Over the course of the past two years, the City of St. Louis has exhibited an alarming trend within its correctional facilities. Shockingly, at least 10 individuals, who were fathers, brothers, uncles, and sons to their loved ones, have passed away while being held in the jurisdiction’s jails. To make matters even worse, three of these men lost their lives in the last 90 days alone. This disheartening revelation serves as a stark reminder that jail facilities should never be facilities of punishment to the extent that individuals are losing their lives. Of the ten deceased individuals in question, it is important to note that they were not even convicted of the alleged crimes that landed them in incarceration in the first place. This grievous situation demands immediate attention and action to ensure that preventable deaths are not permitted to continue.
The harsh reality is that incarceration is not the solution to our problems. We cannot forget that when we lock someone away in jail, we are effectively isolating them from the rest of society, and subjecting them to unbearable shame and trauma. This experience often makes it difficult for them to reintegrate back into the community, and often fuels the cycle of violence that leads them right back to where they started.
It’s important to recognize that instead of incarcerating individuals, we should be investing in programs that are dedicated to tackling the root causes of violence. By focusing on programs that empower communities and foster healing from past traumatic experiences, we can truly build safer societies.
As a society, we must come together to transform the current criminal legal system and put an end to mass incarceration. This begins by recognizing that we need to do what’s best for all members of our communities, and work towards providing them with the support they need to heal and thrive.
Demanding individuals don’t die while awaiting trial is the absolute bare minimum.
Please join us and others on the ground in St. Louis to demand that conditions inside city jail be improved, those in positions of authority are held accountable for these deaths, and that no more innocent people die awaiting trial.
We demand the following:
1. Jail warden Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah must resign or be fired.
2. The Detention Facilities Oversight Board must be given immediate and unfettered access to do its work.
3. There must be a full transformation of the city’s jail policies and practices including ceasing the use of chemical spray, 23 hour lockdown, adequate and sanitary conditions in the jail.
4. All information regarding jail conditions, practices, and policy changes must be shared transparently with the public. Anything less than these changes is unacceptable.
Learn more about private prisons, the Innocence Project, and the criminal justice system.
It has recently come to light that the Ferrero North America brand Mother’s Cookies has displayed insensitivity towards the harm that animals face when they are exploited and subjected to cruel treatment in circuses. The packaging of these cookies depicts images of elephants, camels, and lions as “circus animals”, which unfortunately contributes to the harmful ideology of speciesism. This derogatory language conveys the message that using animals for human enjoyment is acceptable and perpetuates a cycle of cruelty. The depiction of animals in such a manner is offensive and can further desensitize people to the fact that animals have feelings and deserve to be treated with respect and kindness. This messaging runs counter to the belief of many people who recognize the importance of animal rights and strive to promote ethical practices.
The treatment of animals in circuses is not something that should be taken lightly. It is a deeply concerning issue, which sadly involves the horrendous and inhumane practices of separating babies from their mothers, confining them in cages or chaining them up. These animals are forced to endure a constant state of fear and anxiety, knowing that any moment they may be subjected to brutality and torture wielded by the cruel and often heartless hands of the circus trainers. Forced to perform acts that are unnatural to their species, such as balancing on balls, spinning on pedestals, walking on two legs, and even riding bicycles, these animals are robbed of their fundamental freedom to live their lives according to their own natural instincts. It is a travesty that Mother’s Cookies would turn a blind eye to this suffering, and it is high time that we as a society stand up for animal rights and give these creatures the respect, dignity, and care they deserve.
Just last year, Dukal Corporation stopped making bandages featuring images of animals in circuses, joining Nabisco, which redesigned its animal crackers box, and Trader Joe’s, which redesigned several packages to no longer feature images of elephants in circus settings or performing circus-style tricks. Hundreds of venues and dozens of communities nationwide have banned or restricted circuses with animals. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus returned without using living, feeling beings, and UniverSoul Circus has ditched its cruel animal acts.
Just three and a half months ago, Texas named Will Speer as the first Inmate Coordinator for the Death Row Faith Based Program. Now, the State plans to execute him on October 26, 2023.
Will Speer is one of the original members of a voluntary, immersive evangelical Christian program for people incarcerated on Texas death row.
Through the program, Will has deeply studied the way of Christ and recommitted his life to Him. He has developed deep faith in God and grown to feel sincere remorse for the violent acts of his past. His newfound relationship with God and the tools he learned in the program have enabled him to heal from the trauma, neglect, and abuse he experienced as a child.
Will now ministers to others who are incarcerated, carrying a message of healing, redemption, and love to people in Texas’s prisons.
Despite all that Will overcame and the positive impact he is making in his historic new role as the first Coordinator for the Faith Based Program, the State plans to execute him in a little over a month. If allowed to live, Will wants to devote the rest of his days to serving as a prison minister.
The answer is that we aren’t against older people in government. We just want to make sure younger people are represented at a level that more closely reflects our population, too. Given the unique issues facing young people today, it’s pretty important that we have leaders who understand where we’re coming from!
Make sure to read more, and then please be a part of electing young leaders all over the country.
Since we launched Leaders We Deserve, there is one question that I keep getting asked. It’s a question I’ve been getting asked regularly since I started my activism with March For Our Lives, where we were an organization run by young people.
“If you want more young people in office — Why do you support Joe Biden?”
