Feds Launch Investigation of UW-Madison

PETA's Release of Gruesome Photos of Mutilated Cat in UW Laboratory Prompts USDA Action

For Immediate Release:
September 14, 2012

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Madison, Wis. -- Less than 24 hours after PETA released documents and disturbing never-before-seen photos detailing the University of Wisconsin–Madison's (UW) months-long abusive experiment on an orange tabby cat named Double Trouble, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have opened an investigation into UW's apparent violations of federal animal welfare regulations, confirming in a letter sent to PETA on Thursday that the USDA will "take appropriate enforcement action if necessary."

The USDA and NIH aren't alone in responding quickly to the released photos: In the first 48 hours, more than 43,000 people have used PETA's website to contact the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and demand that the agency cut funding for UW's crude and deadly project. In addition, more than 10,000 supporters have used the website of peta2, PETA's youth division, to call on NIH to stop funding all experiments like the one at UW. And on PETA's Facebook page, more than 2,700 people have expressed their opposition to and disgust with UW's cruelty to cats.

"One look at the records of the agony that UW experimenters put Double Trouble through—from drilling holes into her skull to keeping her constantly hungry in order to force her to cooperate—and it's clear why these cruel and pointless studies must end," says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. "PETA will continue to push for the maximum penalties possible for UW's flagrant disregard for animal welfare."

For more information, please visit PETA.org/DoubleTrouble.