Group Calls On Board to End Cruel Experiments Depicted in Gruesome Photos—Federal Agencies Have Opened Investigations
For
Immediate Release:
January
22, 2013
Contact:
Tasgola
Bruner 202-483-7382
Madison, Wis. -- Double Trouble was not the only cat who endured cruel experiments at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. PETA has released internal UW records that illustrate disturbing evidence of widespread and ongoing abuse of other cats in the same laboratory, including serious bacterial infections from the traumatic head and eye wounds inflicted on them. Cats named Broc, Cali, Daisy, Mama Grey, Marble, Patches, Slinky, Tiger, and Timmy suffered from illness, malnutrition, and infection—some for several years. Some of these cats have been killed, whereas others may still be alive.
In a letter sent today to the University Of Wisconsin System Board Of Regents, PETA asks for the immediate end of the deadly and wasteful experiment.
"UW's own records detail the years-long pain and suffering of cats during experiments in which the animals had their heads and ears cut open and were intentionally deafened and starved," says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. "PETA is calling on the Board of Regents to take action to put an end to these cruel experiments before the university harms any more cats and tarnishes its image further."
The revelations about these nine cats follow PETA's release in September of disturbing never-before-seen photos that detail the abuse of an orange tabby cat named Double Trouble.
Double Trouble had a stainless-steel post screwed to her skull, a toxic substance applied to her inner ears to deafen her, steel coils implanted in her eyes, and electrical devices implanted in her head as part of a cruel brain experiment at UW.
As with the experiment on Double Trouble—which was deemed a failure and never published—the laboratory's other deadly studies on cats have never been cited by researchers as contributions to improving human hearing. More than $3 million in taxpayer money has been wasted on this cruel and useless project.
PETA has submitted complaints about the new allegations to both the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funded the experiments, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Both agencies have notified PETA that they have opened investigations. Through PETA's website, more than 170,000 people have asked the NIH to cut funding for these experiments.
For more information, please visit PETA.org/DoubleTrouble.