UN INT Intro Text w/ Responsive Image - *Important Note* You must UNLINK this shared library component before making page-specific customizations.
CAMPAIGN UPDATES
An undergraduate course in psychology at Utah State University (USU) requires students to place rats in stressful conditions in an attempt to teach students about “fundamental behavioral processes under laboratory conditions” in humans and other animals. We need your help to put an end to this pointless cruelty.
These experiments on rats take place each semester in USU’s course titled Analysis of Behavior: Advanced (PSY 3400). PETA sent letters to the school to demand the replacement of its use of animals in PSY 3400 with superior, non-animal methods. USU refused and clarified that this course had previously used pigeons for these experiments but that the instructor had used “discretion” and switched to using rats instead in 2022.
The experiments last for nearly an hour and involve locking pigeons—or now, rats—inside barren metal boxes, where they’re blasted with random bursts of bright light while being trained to push a lever to receive food pellets. Although USU admitted to using an “online rat simulator” for this course in the past, the university took a giant step backward, deciding to torment animals instead. Recent university records indicate that this course has been approved through 2026, and as many as 68 rats may have already been exploited.
USU Shamefully Indifferent to Rat’s Likely Broken Tail
PETA recently obtained university records showing that a laboratory staff member noticed a possible fracture in the tail of one of the rats used in the PSY 3400 course. The staffer told a superior about the injury. That person told two others. At that point, although the tail injury was obvious, records make no mention of any pain medication or treatment being administered. As if that were bad enough, no one bothered to reexamine the animal for another 29 days.
Because animal welfare is seemingly not a priority for the university, PETA sent a complaint to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, calling for an investigation and sanctions, if warranted. PETA also sent a letter to USU informing the school of this disturbing issue and rebutting the university’s past inaccuracies.
There Are Better Methods
Studies show that up to 60% of psychology students oppose the use of animals in psychology education and that the majority of psychologists and psychology students believe that live-animal experimentation should not be required in undergraduate psychology courses.
Tormenting animals for this course is unnecessary. There are several engaging, effective, and cost-efficient non-animal simulators available to help students achieve the course objectives of PSY 3400 as well as non-invasive, nonlethal, and cage-free field research opportunities to observe animals in their natural habitats. Some examples that are in use at other universities include the following:
What You Can Do
Please send a polite e-mail to USU staff demanding that the school replace all use of animals in PSY 3400 with effective, non-animal teaching methods, humane field research observing animals in their natural habitats, and/or ethical studies involving consenting humans.