U. of Florida Under Fire for Ties to Cruel Dog Laboratory

PETA Calls for School to Reconsider Contract With Texas A&M for Cruel Muscular Dystrophy Experiments on Dogs

For Immediate Release:
July 14, 2017

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

PETA has obtained federal records revealing that the University of Florida (UF) contracted with Texas A&M University (TAMU) to conduct experiments on 3-month-old golden retriever puppies who were deliberately bred to have a severe, painful form of canine muscular dystrophy.

In a letter sent to UF President W. Kent Fuchs today, PETA calls on the school to reconsider all contracts with the TAMU dog laboratory in light of the eyewitness video footage that shows dogs held in barren conditions in the TAMU laboratory, where they can be seen struggling to walk, swallow, and even breathe. PETA points out that muscular dystrophy experiments on dogs haven’t translated to humans and that 35 years of such experiments haven’t resulted in a treatment to reverse the symptoms of the disease.

“Cruel experiments on debilitated and suffering dogs are not helping people who suffer from muscular dystrophy,” says PETA scientist Dr. Emily Trunnell. “PETA is calling on the University of Florida to dedicate its funds to promising, modern research that might actually help human patients.”

PETA notes that cutting-edge techniques such as studying cells and tissues from human muscular dystrophy patients to understand disease progression and exploring methods for transplanting healthy, human-derived muscle cells into patients are more promising areas of research than studies on dogs. Human-relevant drug-screening platforms accelerate the pipeline for new therapies.

PETA’s efforts to end TAMU’s ineffective dog experiments have received support from scientists—who have criticized the experiments’ inapplicability to human patients—and public figures, including Miami Dolphins quarterback and TAMU alumnus Ryan Tannehill and commentator Bill Maher, who called the university “dogs’ worst enemy.”

PETA’s letter to UF is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org or click here.