University of Bristol alumnus and The Maze Runner actor
Will Poulter has sent a letter to the institution's
vice-chancellor and president, Hugh Brady, imploring him to end
the university's use of forced
swim experiments.
In the controversial experiments, small animals such
as rats are placed in inescapable beakers of water and made to
swim to keep from drowning, purportedly to shed light on human
neurobehavioural conditions such as depression and stress. Yet
these types of tests have been heavily criticised by scientists
who argue that they're bad science.
"I don't want to imagine the panic the animals must
feel as they are dropped into an inescapable cylinder filled with
water and furiously try to climb up the sides and dive down to
the bottom to look for an escape," writes Poulter. "Please, stop
using forced swim tests now. They harm animals and mislead
experimenters."
Following discussions with PETA – whose motto reads,
in part, that "animals are not ours to experiment on" – and its
international affiliates, 14 companies and two universities,
including King's College London, have declared that they do not
intend to use forced swim tests, which they previously used for
depression research, in the future. PETA is calling on the
University of Bristol to follow suit.
PETA opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist
worldview, and supports the use of scientifically and ethically
sound test methods that protect animals, humans, and the
environment.
Poulter's letter to Brady is available upon request.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.
