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Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!
S. A. E. N.
"Exposing the truth to wipe out animal experimentation"

Newsletters
The Defender
From Summer 2009 Issue

Animal Pain in Research Escalating -- Anesthesia denied to Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, Dogs & Monkeys

SAEN’s analysis of national USDA reports over the course of several years reveals that the number of animals experiencing unrelieved pain during experimentation is escalating.

The most recent information available from the USDA reveals that 77,766 animals (213 per day) were used in experimentation without anesthesia, a 6% increase from the previous year. Experiments at universities in Minnesota and Michigan are typical of projects that subject animals to unrelieved pain.

According to federal reports, 232 animals -- 24 dogs, 6 rabbits, 3 monkeys, and numerous species of wildlife including squirrels, weasels, chipmunks, and bats -- experienced unrelieved pain or distress in experiments conducted at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis).

At this Minneapolis lab, dogs were used in experiments which injected painful substances directly into their knees, rabbits were subjected to toxic shock, and primates were deprived of water and denied access to other members of their own species. Wild animals were identified by chopping off sections of their toes.

Recently-obtained government reports reveal that 99 animals -- 61 monkeys, 14 guinea pigs, and 24 sheep -- were used in painful experiments without anesthesia at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) during 2007.

At this brutal Michigan lab, the atrocities include: scalding monkeys’ tails in 131 degree Fahrenheit water to test an analgesic drug or purposely inducing extreme stress using severe confinement, spinning guinea pigs mounted on turntables or subjecting them to noise sufficient to make their ear hair fall out, and either severely confining or starving sheep to induce stress.

SAEN is demanding internal investigations at both universities. “Abusive experiments like those revealed in these government reports should be ended immediately,” said Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., SAEN’s Executive Director. “Federal funding should be re-directed towards clinical research which is more relevant to modern human medicine.” .

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