PETA Statement: Newborn Ferrets Sustain Injuries and Are Killed at the University of Iowa

For Immediate Release:
October 26, 2021

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the statement from Dr. Alka Chandna, PhD, PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Cases, concerning U.S. Department of Agriculture documents showing that the University of Iowa was cited for critical violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act:

The University of Iowa needs to get out of the animal-experimentation business. Just-released government documents obtained by PETA reveal that the school was cited for critical violations of federal animal welfare laws for obscene neglect resulting in the death of baby ferrets. In one incident, a ferret kit’s leg became caught in a cage. The animal sustained a bone fracture and was euthanized. In another incident, a pregnant ferret was left in a cage inappropriate for pregnant females. Two of her kits were found dead in this enclosure. Two more kits from this female were later found dead, even after she had been moved to an appropriate enclosure—although the cause of death was not determined. Ferrets are known to be intelligent, sensitive, and empathetic, but the same cannot be said of the workers in the University of Iowa’s laboratory.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.