TUCSON, Ariz. (April 26, 2024) — On Thursday, April 25, activists with In Defense of Animals and Tucson-based animal rights group SPEAK (Supporting and Promoting Ethics for the Animal Kingdom) took a stand against extreme animal cruelty at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine. From brain-mapping experiments on primates to surgical training procedures on live pigs, the university has been thoroughly entrenched in the archaic practice of vivisection on animals, causing unimaginable suffering and death to the involuntary participants. 

WATCH: https://youtube.com/shorts/hEg4KD7sGdQ

In Defense of Animals co-hosted the action with SPEAK at the University of Arizona for the third consecutive year during World Week for Animal In Laboratories (WWAIL), which runs from April 22 to April 28 this year.

“We are outraged that the University of Arizona is undertaking extremely cruel, invasive, and archaic experiments on primates and pigs — these tests should be stopped immediately,” said Brittany Michelson, Campaign Specialist for Captive Animals at In Defense of Animals. “It is unacceptable that this institution continues to conduct animal research when many effective and modern non-animal methods are available. It is long past time for the University of Arizona to end its abusive and outdated animal tests.”

The university already has access to the state-of-the-art Arizona Simulation Technology and Education Center and could end the use of live animals for its surgery residency right now.

Other alternatives to animal testing include in vitro studies, computer modeling, epidemiological studies, cell and tissue cultures, clinical studies, CAT, PET, and MRI scans, quantitative-structure activity, relationship analysis, chemical toxicity assays, and supervised operating room experience.

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IMAGES (free for use with credit): 2024, 2023, 2022

CONTACT: In Defense of Animals, Brittany Michelson, brittany@idausa.org, 928-420-0727

In Defense of Animals is an international animal rescue and protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 40-year history of defending animals, the environment, and their guardians through education and campaigns, as well as hands-on rescue facilities in India, South Korea, rural Mississippi and California. www.idausa.org/vivisection

Tucson-based SPEAK (Supporting and Promoting Ethics for the Animal Kingdom) is proud to be Arizona's first animal rights organization. The organization addresses animal protection issues on every level: local, statewide, regional, national, and international. Speak’s mission to create a more cruelty-free world for animals involves a twofold approach: educational efforts coupled with active resistance to any form of animal abuse. www.facebook.com/speaktucson