AMHERST, Mass. (April 25, 2025) — On Tuesday, April 22, and Thursday, April 24, In Defense of Animals and Western Mass. Animal Rights Advocates took action against the torture of marmosets and other animals at the University of Massachusetts. The demonstrations were in support of World Week for Animal In Laboratories (WWAIL). 

On Tuesday afternoon the Trail of Fears installation that showed pictures and names of the 16 marmosets who were most recently killed at the university and a banner drop from Morrill Science Building, asking the university to stop hurting marmosets, sparked students to ask lively questions and share their views on animal experimentation. 

Some students were already avid animal protestors, while others did not know about animal testing or believed that research animals were rehomed after research and had no idea they were all killed. The advocates were able to provide facts to help students understand the impact of animal testing on not just the animals, but on the students' futures in progressive modern science if not educated with 21st century human-relevant tools. 

Advocates gave away free education opportunity materials to students in the science departments, encouraging them to explore new non-animal methodologies. The Thursday evening video screening of marmoset monkeys in the wild and in the UMass research lab offered student viewers the stark contrast between free-living, happy marmosets and those caged, captive and anxious in the lab. The video clearly moved all who watched it. 

The WWAIL commemoration on campus this week was a vital step towards student education on the truth of experimentation. Animal advocates will continue to carry the World Week for Animals in Lab message into the weekend as they offer education for local residents at the Sustainability Festival on the Commons on Saturday April 26th from 10-4pm.

At UMass over the past decade, marmosets have been subjected to invasive surgeries, hormone manipulation, confinement, and stress-inducing tests. These experiments are claimed to study menopause and neurodegenerative diseases in human women but involve harmful procedures like the surgical removal of reproductive organs, sleep deprivation, social isolation to study stress responses, and forced restraint. Once the experiments are finished, the marmosets are killed and dissected.

Non-animal research methods are more reliable, ethical, and cost-effective. In honor of WWAIL, activists are urging authorities and decision-makers at UMass and other universities to end the use of animals in research, invest in modern alternatives, and align with their values of innovation and progress by adopting humane and more effective research methods. 

An In Defense of Animals’ action alert calling on the University of Massachusetts, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University to end animal experimentation has nearly 14,000 supporters thus far. 

“The University of Massachusetts continues to perform extremely cruel and invasive experiments on marmosets and other animals,” said Brittany Michelson, Campaign Specialist for Captive Animals at In Defense of Animals. “It is time for this institution to phase out these horrific and outdated experiments and align itself with progressive and compassionate practices.” 

"We believe every animal deserves a right to live freely and away from experimentation,” said Steve Baer of Western Massachusetts Animal Rights Advocates. “There are so many human relevant alternative methods to replace animal testing. We urge UMass to step in line with our national institutions and robustly invest in those methods for their students' future.” 

Photos (videos available upon request): https://bit.ly/UMassWWAIL

CONTACTS: 

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

Western Mass. Animal Rights Advocates, Steve Baer, baerwolf@hotmail.com, 508-615-8286 or Pam Youngquist, kali1111@bellsouth.net, 413- 229-9013

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

Western Massachusetts Animal Rights Advocates (WMARA) was founded in 2011 as a grass roots organization to end the suffering of all animals through activism, education, legislation, networking and collaboration. WMARA has successfully worked in partnership with other animal protection organizations, state legislators and municipal governing bodies to bring about the end to the use of animals in surgical training at Baystate Medical Center, closing the Melha Circus, the removal of exotic and wild animals from the Big E Fair, and passing state law to prohibit wild animals in traveling shows. WMARA is dedicated to ending the use of animals in entertainment, food systems, laboratories, breeding and profit, wildlife killing contests and all other areas where animals suffer. 

###ENDS###