Campaign Updates: Utah State University Torments Rats in Psychology Course

Semester after semester, undergraduate students at Utah State University (USU) who are enrolled in a course called Advanced Analysis of Behavior (PSY 3400) are required to lock rats inside barren metal boxes where the animals are trained to push a lever to receive food pellets, all while being bombarded with random bursts of bright light—even though numerous animal-free teaching methods exist. PETA is demanding an end to this pointless cruelty, and you can help.

USU Professor Urges University to Ban Animals in Psych Course

May 1, 2024

In her op-ed published in The Herald Journal, USU professor Michelle Rossi criticizes the cruel and unnecessary use of animals in the school’s Advanced Analysis of Behavior course. Students are required to place rats in stressful conditions in attempts to learn about psychology in humans and other animals.

“I also believe that our school is failing some Aggies by forcing them to perform cruel experiments on animals to pass a class.”

—Professor Michelle Rossi, USU