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PETA has learned that an experimenter at the University of Washington reportedly just received approval to traumatize mice intentionally bred for their aggressiveness and then orchestrate cage fights between them and mice bred to be docile. We need you to help stop it.
According to an eyewitness, experimenters will intentionally psychologically and physically torture aggressive mice in order to induce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before putting them in a cage with docile mice.
We don't know exactly how the experimenters intend to torment the mice to induce PTSD, but some common methods include the following:
- Restraining mice for hours at a time and shocking their feet
- Repeatedly terrifying them by exposing them to predators or the scent of predators
- Forcing them to endure social isolation
- Taking baby mice from their mothers
- Exposing mice to others who will attack them
The experimenter will then watch to see what happens, which assuredly will result in significant injuries to one or both animals. This will reportedly be repeated 12 to 20 times a day for 12 consecutive days.
The eyewitness reports that according to the lead experimenter, none of the mice will receive any kind of pain relief for injuries, because that might alter the results of the experiment. Experimenters will simply put injured mice "off to the side," leaving them to suffer.
PTSD is a serious, debilitating condition that greatly affects the quality of life of afflicted humans. But the most useful treatment strategies for humans have come from MRI imaging and human clinical studies. The University of Washington currently supports relevant, human-focused research that seeks both to clarify PTSD symptoms and to develop practical interventions.
Intentionally tormenting mice and watching as they tear into other mice isn't going to help anyone cope with the agony of PTSD. It just adds more sickness to a heap of suffering.
Please help stop this twisted experiment by urging the school to cancel it before it starts.
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