Animal Testing Weekly, Real Story about the Impossible Burger, Louisiana State University, University of Pittsburgh Without NIH Funding, Golden Retrievers Bred to Develop Muscular Dystrophy, Funding Cut for Four Sick Sex Experiments, Rabbits, Goats, and Llamas Used as Living Incubators

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Here’s the Real Story about the Impossible Burger PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)

For the First Time in 11 Years, This Experimenter Is Without NIH Funding. See how PETA helped end the suffering of mice at a University of Pittsburgh laboratory with your help and how you can help end funding for other cruel experiments on animals.

Here are five ways to help the terrified dogs being experimented on at Texas A&M University. Golden Retrievers Bred to Develop a Severe Canine Form of Muscular Dystrophy.

Tell Louisiana State University to Forbid the Torment of Birds!

UPDATE: Birds of Louisiana, beware. Notorious bird experimenter Christine Lattin is starting in a new position at Louisiana State University (LSU). The good news is that Yale University didn't keep her on after her post-doc ended. Thank you all for your more than 140,000 e-mails to Yale!

Now that Lattin is moving to a new university, she has the opportunity to make a fresh and kind start by conducting research without harming and exploiting birds. Please use the form below to urge Louisiana State University to prevent Christine Lattin from capturing and tormenting birds.

First at Tufts University and then at Yale University, unsuspecting birds who have been lured to feeders and trapped or netted are being systematically tormented to induce stress and fear. Why? For experiments whose results won't apply to humans or even to other bird species.

Lattin has been tormenting birds in these experiments since 2008, including by confining them to a cloth bag, rolling them around on a cart (a disorienting and terrifying experience for these already-frightened animals), and restraining them for 30 minutes at a time, four times a day. Some birds were fed crude oil, and others' legs were wounded without any pain relief. After weeks and sometimes months of repeated abuse, they're then killed. Not only are the experiments extremely cruel, they're also wasteful because important physiological differences between species make the results inapplicable to humans or other birds. Unsurprisingly, Lattin doesn't like that her cruel and pointless experiments are being exposed, and she's working overtime to mislead the public about them. Read her comments and PETA's responses here.

Lattin is now at Louisiana State University (LSU). Please use the form below to urge LSU to never allow these experiments on its campus.

You're welcome to use our template letter, but remember that putting the subject line and message into your own words will help draw attention to your e-mail.

Funding Cut for Four Sick Sex Experiments on Animals—One More to Go

Update: Sexually stimulating hamsters after cutting holes in their skulls, cutting the skin off live mice's penises and then injecting them with chemicals, burning the brains of female mice and then measuring how interested they were in sniffing the urine of males, and removing rats' ovaries before injecting the animals with antidepressants—PETA had called on the U.S. National Institutes of Health to stop funneling tens of millions of dollars into these stomach-churning experiments. And the agency listened! Four of the experimenters responsible for these sick studies are no longer receiving public grants. The fifth, Mount Sinai Hospital's Eric Nestler, who led the experiments conducted at the University of Michigan, continues to get taxpayer money to support his twisted work. Take action below:

When an agency like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) throws about $12 billion each year—nearly half its entire research budget—at thousands of experiments on animals, it's impossible for the public to keep track of all the cruel and useless projects for which its tax dollars are being squandered to cause animals pain and suffering. And even though public opposition to experiments on animals is greater than ever, there is apparently no project too trivial or too stupid for NIH to throw money at. Case in point: Right now, NIH is funding dozens of bizarre, stomach-churning sexual behavior studies in which animals have the sexual pleasure area of their brains damaged and their genitals mutilated. Animals are sexually stimulated by experimenters, observed having sex, and subjected to other twisted procedures. NIH has spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on these sex experiments, and these five are just some of the most upsetting projects currently receiving funding: 

	1. Mice and rats electrically stimulated after penises mutilated and injected with chemicals Location:Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland Experiments: Experimenters cut all the skin off the penises of live mice and rats, electrically stimulated their penises with electrodes for up to five minutes, and injected their penises with various chemicals to see if they'd sustain an erection. The animals were then killed, and their penises were cut apart. Cost to taxpayers: $2,792,144
	2. Mice's sex drive tested after brains burned Location: Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts Experiments: Experimenters locked female mice into restraint devices, drilled holes into their skulls, and burned lesions into their brains. The females were then presented with urine samples from castrated and intact males, and the amount of time they spent sniffing each urine sample was recorded. In a subsequent experiment, the females were placed with males and the females' sexual receptivity as indicated by their back-arching behavior was observed and rated. All of the mice were killed and dissected. Cost to taxpayers: $1,505,173
	3. Rats' sex drive tested following Prozac injections and removal of ovaries Location: Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas Experiments: Experimenters injected female rats with antidepressant drugs and placed them with male rats. The females' sexual receptivity, as indicated by the downward arching of their backs, was observed and measured. The experimenters then manipulated the female rats, surgically removing their ovaries and injecting sex hormones, and again observed the rats' sexual behavior. Cost to taxpayers:$2,024,949
	4. Hamsters' sex drive tested following brain damage Location: University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, California Experiments: Experimenters cut into the skulls of female hamsters and implanted tubes into their brains and pumps into their scalps. Saline or hormones related to sexual behavior were pumped into the females' brains, and the animals were videotaped as they were able to see, smell, and hear—but not touch—a male hamster. The sexual receptivity of the females to male hamsters was measured through their vaginal scent markings. Experimenters used brushes to stimulate the female hamsters, and the extent of sexual receptivity as indicated by their back-arching behavior was observed and rated. The animals were then killed, and their brains were dissected. Cost to taxpayers: $1,817,502
	5. Rats' interest in drugs tested following brain damage and sex withdrawal Location: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan Experiments: Experimenters measured the time taken for male rats to mount females, insert their penises, and ejaculate. The experimenters then restrained the rats, cut into their skulls, implanted tubes into their brains, and pumped in a chemical that would block the rats' ability to process sexual pleasure. The experimenters then watched the rats having sex, withheld sex from the rats for seven to 28 days, and noted the rats' increased interest in an amphetamine reward. All the animals were killed, and their brains were dissected. Cost to taxpayers: $4,547,605

Please help PETA end this obscene cruelty by asking NIH to cut taxpayer funding for sex experiments on animals.

Rabbits, Goats, and Llamas Used as Living Incubators—Take Action!

As reported by the NBC 7 in San Diego, PETA recently obtained photos of rabbits, llamas, goats, sheep, and cows held in deplorable, ramshackle conditions at ProSci Inc., a company based near San Diego that uses them to produce antibodies. The animals were deprived of basic care and allowed to suffer with untreated infections and other painful conditions.

We've all heard of antibodies—molecules naturally produced by our immune systems to fight viruses and bacterial infections. But what you might not know is that animals—including rabbits, mice, rats, guinea pigs, goats, sheep, pigs, cows, llamas, and horses—are commonly used to produce antibodies that are widely used in medical research. In one method of producing antibodies, experimenters inject a foreign substance into animals' abdomens, causing them to become grossly distended with fluid. This can leave the animals unable to move, eat, or even breathe without difficultly. The fluid is then removed with a needle. Another method involves repeatedly injecting animals with foreign substances and then bleeding them.

At ProSci, federal inspectors have documented more than 39 violations of minimal animal-welfare laws in the past three years. Rabbits are confined to small, rusty, filth-encrusted wire cages without even a board to rest on. Some squinted to see through the discharge that oozed from their eyes as a result of painful infections.

Others suffered from head tilt, which can be painful and prevent them from eating and drinking.

Another was "underweight, depressed, and soiled."

One rabbit was found with an untreated ear mite infestation, and another was so emaciated that she was near death. Several had dried blood on their ears and/or backs, indicating that workers had failed to apply pressure at the sites where they drew blood. Many had overgrown nails, causing them considerable pain and discomfort, especially on the wire flooring.

Federal documents also reveal that goats had overgrown and cracked hooves, llamas had excessively long hooves, and cows and sheep were not provided with adequate shelter.

There are better ways to produce antibodies. The PETA International Science Consortium has worked extensively to promote these non-animal methods.

As recent customers of ProSci, Harvard Medical School, the University of Pennsylvania, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Utah, and the University of Cincinnati have helped to bankroll the suffering there. And federal agencies have used taxpayer dollars to purchase antibodies from the company. Currently, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has a contract with the ProSci.

We have called for a police investigation into the horrific situation documented by federal authorities. We are also urging NCI to conduct its own inquiry and to decide whether it wishes to continue its business relationship with ProSci. Will you add your voice?

You're welcome to use our template letter, but remember that putting the subject line and message in your own words will help draw attention to your e-mail.