Mizzou Mutilates Rats in Cruel Weight-Training Tests

UN LAB Middleware Label: Title Ends

University of Missouri (Mizzou) experimenters have plumbed new depths of depraved inanity in a slew of tests in which they chemically damaged rats' brains and forced them to perform memory tests. We need your help to stop them.

In the grisly tests, Mizzou experimenters cut into rats' heads, removed parts of their skulls, and injected an inflammatory compound into their brains. They taped heavy weights to the animals' tails and forced them to climb a more than 3-foot ladder. The rats were then subjected to a battery of fear-motivated memory tests before being killed.

cute rat looking at camera

The tests aim to determine whether resistance exercise training—weight lifting—can overcome cognitive deficits. However, multiple studies and reviews have already achieved this goal, some using actual human beings. These tests break no new ground, because the benefits of exercise to humans suffering from mild cognitive impairment have been well established.

PETA has filed a complaint with the school's chancellor and vice president of research, urging them to investigate the tests, withdraw institutional support for them, and redirect resources to clinically relevant, human-based studies.

PETA also sent a letter to the Journal of Applied Physiology, which published a paper reporting these experiments, demanding a retraction, because the article failed to meet the journal's standards for both animal welfare and relevance to animal and human health.

These disturbing tests never should have been allowed. And it's time that Mizzou dismantled its sociopath-in-training playset before more young Frankensteins develop.

Please take action today. With your help, we can get these senseless experiments shut down right now.

Dr.
Mark
McIntosh, Ph.D.
University of Missouri - Research, Graduate Studies and Economic Development

Take Action Now!

Fields with an asterisk(*) are required. 

Sign me up for the following e-mail:

Get texts & occasional phone calls for Action Alerts, local events, & other updates to help animals with PETA! (optional)