Wisconsin Poised to Legalize Cruelty in Labs
For more than a decade, experimenters at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW) have forced hundreds—possibly thousands—of mice to fight each other in cruel experiments, despite the fact that it is a felony in Wisconsin to instigate fights between dogs, roosters, or any type of animal. PETA and Madison-based Alliance for Animals have filed a complaint with the Dane County district attorney calling for him to investigate and file criminal charges against UW. But animal experimenters may soon be able to abuse animals any way they want, because Wisconsin legislators sneakily inserted language in their budget bill that would completely exempt experimenters from state anti-cruelty laws.
This terrible idea was born under pressure from UW after PETA and Alliance for Animals filed a complaint alleging that UW’s torturous decompression experiments on sheep violated state law, which eventually prompted the study to be ended and its funding to be pulled.
Cruelty is cruelty, whether it occurs in an alley or a laboratory. Animals desperately need every Wisconsin resident to urge Gov. Scott Walker to veto the animal testing provision in the budget before June 30. If you don’t live in Wisconsin, you can help by contacting the federal government and asking for the funding for these cruel animal fighting experiments to be pulled immediately and for the money already awarded to be returned.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
