Federal Inspection Report Shows 14 More Baby Pigs Killed by Untrained Staff at Johns Hopkins University: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
July 24, 2026

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Vice President Alka Chandna regarding two citations issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Johns Hopkins University for critical violations of the minimum standards of the Animal Welfare Act after the 14 piglets were killed in separate incidents. In one, three piglets inhaled their own vomit and died after untrained staff jammed tubes down their throats to deliver a test substance. In the second, untrained staff failed to seek veterinary help, as required, for sick and dying newborns; six piglets died, and five were killed within two days after cesarean delivery. These deaths add to the mounting body count of piglets at the school and follow a complaint PETA filed yesterday regarding other piglet deaths under similar disturbing circumstances:

The growing pile of baby pig corpses inside Johns Hopkins University laboratories indicate that this institution, although awash in federal funding of nearly $1 billion a year, has not even trained its staff to call a veterinarian when animals are sick or dying. Since Johns Hopkins does not follow the rules or meet the bare minimum of animal care established by law, it must immediately redirect its grant funding toward superior, non-animal research methods that hold real promise of helping human patients receive effective, swift treatment.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.