Yale Cancels Pro-Animal-Testing Lecture for Kids

April 2008

When PETA learned that Yale University had invited experimenter Marina Picciotto to present a speech showing children “the importance of working with experimental animals for devising new ways to help people quit smoking,” we joined local activists in letting the university know that children should be taught ethical, progressive science and compassion for animals. Some of Picciotto’s studies involve drilling holes into rats’ skulls, exposing animals to cocaine and amphetamines, and hanging mice by their tails from paper clips–supposedly to observe the effects of nicotine exposure on the animals’ levels of physical activity. Just one day after PETA sent out an action alert to our members, Yale decided to replace Picciotto’s presentation with a lecture by a mechanical engineer about the Segway Human Transporter.