PETA Urges University of East Anglia to Stop Force-Feeding Mice Faeces

PETA Urges University of East Anglia to Stop Force-Feeding Mice Faeces

Norwich – Following reports that scientists at the University of East Anglia conducted cruel and unnecessary experiments on mice – in which animals were force-fed a “faecal slurry” – PETA rushed a letter to the university urging it to move away from experiments on animals.

In the letter, PETA highlighted that experimenters don’t need to rely on mice to prove that the types of bacteria living in the gut change with age. There is already an abundance of human data on this, and other studies have revealed similar results.

“It is highly concerning that this study passed the University’s Animal Welfare Ethical Review Board…given the prevalence of human clinical data available for this nature of work,” writes PETA Science Policy Advisor Dr Kimberley Jayne. “There is an urgent need to modernise biomedical research away from the use of animals, with growing scientific consensus that far more is to be gained – scientifically and economically – from enhanced support for human-relevant research methods and technology.”

PETA is calling on the university to adopt the group’s Research Modernisation Deal and commit to ending all experiments on animals and redirecting resources away from these unreliable tests. It has yet to receive a response.

In the experiment, faeces were transplanted between younger and older mice in an attempt to reverse aging in the gut, eyes, and brain. Bedding soiled with another mouse’s faeces was also transferred between cages – meaning mice were forced to sleep in filthy conditions. At the end of the experiment, all the mice were killed.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]

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