PETA Urges NIH to Stop Funding Experiments That Cause Unrelieved Pain to Animals at Michigan Universities

For Immediate Release:
April 3, 2024

Contact:
Brandi Pharris 202-483-7382

Detroit –

PETA is urging the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to stop bankrolling the worst of the worst experiments on animals—known as “Column E” tests—which cause ongoing pain without any relief and that include experiments conducted at the University of Michigan (U-M) and Wayne State University.

 In a letter sent today, PETA points to a test conducted at U-M in which experimenters strapped five endangered long-tailed macaques into chairs—preventing them from moving their heads and arms—for up to eight hours. At Wayne State, experimenters tormented 184 baby rabbits by putting them into a tank of water and forcing them to swim frantically for their lives. They also restrained them for up to an hour and blew puffs of air into their eyes as punishment if they didn’t blink after hearing a sound.

 A monkey used in the animal experimentation industry. Credit: PETA

“All experiments on animals are cruel and unethical, but experiments that cause prolonged agony without pain relief must end immediately,” says PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna. “PETA is calling on NIH to stop funding torture and shift to modern, human-relevant research methods.”

Experimenters have cited “expediency” and “cost reduction” as reasons to withhold pain relief from animals. Other experimenters operate under the misguided belief that providing pain relief would somehow interfere with the tests, despite the well-documented fact that pain and distress compromise results. In 2022 alone, more than 90,000 animals—including monkeys, cats, and rabbits—were subjected to Column E experiments.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—also flagged Column E experiments at several other universities, including Florida State University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Utah.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.