38 Rabbits’ Spines Crushed in “Human Posture” Study
Experimenters crushed the spines of 38 rabbits in a cruel and flawed bid to understand what makes humans stand upright.
PETA US has obtained records showing spine-crushing experiments on rabbits for two decades. The experiments are taking place at the prominent Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The records show that experimenters are failing to follow their own protocols and allowing animals to suffer long past the point at which euthanasia is required.
Crushed Spines and Brain Injections
Current records show experimenters crushed the spines of 38 rabbits, subjected them to brain and spinal injections, and implanted electrodes in their muscles. Experimenters disconnected the brains from the spinal cords of some rabbits. Seven rabbits suffered so greatly that it violated the study’s protocol to keep them alive, yet six of them were used in further painful tests and kept alive for up to 50 days before euthanasia.
Rabbits Scream as They Are Denied Care
Records show that veterinary care following agonising procedures was deficient, inconsistent, and inadequately documented. One rabbit was found screaming in a cage, evidently denied care for nearly three weeks until he was euthanised. Another rabbit was found screaming and lying on his side, but no veterinary care was reported. The rabbit wasn’t euthanised for another month.
What Is PETA Doing About It?
PETA US has filed a complaint with the US National Institutes of Health, whose National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has funded Karolinska Institutet experiments from 2004 to the present, with a 2018-2020 hiatus. So far, the institute has received $3,752,020 in US taxpayer money.
PETA obtained records of 127 rabbits used by the institute between September 2021 and May 2025, and in the last 20 years, it’s likely that thousands of rabbits have been tormented and killed in Karolinska’s laboratory.
We have alerted the local authorities to these apparent violations and are demanding the institute to end these tests immediately.
Rabbits Deserve Better
Every rabbit – and every animal – is someone, not a tool or a data point. They’re sensitive, intelligent individuals who deserve to live free from torment. Each rabbit used in experiments has a unique personality, preferences, and the capacity to feel pain and fear, just like us.
These gentle beings are playful and affectionate. Did you know that rabbits purr softly when they’re content (yes, just like cats) and leap into the air – called a “binky” – when they’re happy? They’re social animals who form close bonds with one another. Yet in laboratories, they’re treated as disposable objects, confined to barren cages, subjected to painful tests and denied everything that makes up a natural life: space to roam, the ability to burrow and nest, and the freedom to simply be.
The Future of Science Is Animal-Free
Rabbits are not tiny furry humans; they are a different species. Taking healthy beings of a completely different species with fundamentally different skeletal structures, locomotory patterns, and postural mechanics, subjecting them to devastating injuries, keeping them in an unnatural and stressful environment, and trying to apply the results to human beings is dubious at best.
From advanced imaging studies to AI-driven modelling, forward-thinking scientists are developing humane, modern, and effective methods. We are calling on the institute to end this torment of rabbits and move to humane, human-relevant animal-free research.
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