‘Rat’ in Tank to Protest Forced Swim Test
For Immediate Release:
3 September 2019
Contact:
Ayushi Sharma; [email protected]
Hiraj Laljani ; [email protected]
PETA India Will Demand an End to Cruel, Bogus Near-Drowning Test on Small Animals
New Delhi – A People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India “rat” will thrash in a tank of water at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday to call for an end to pharmaceutical companies’ use of the widely debunked forced swim test, in which rodents are placed in inescapable beakers filled with water and forced to swim to keep from drowning.
When: Wednesday, 4 September, 12 noon sharp
Where: Jantar Mantar, Sansad Marg, Connaught Place, New Delhi
Video footage of the forced swim test is available for download upon request
The test not only torments small animals but has also been widely debunked: while experimenters have claimed that animals who spend more time floating are depressed, experts agree that floating is not a sign of despair but rather a positive indication that animals are learning, conserving energy, and adapting to a new environment.
“Forcing frantic animals to swim for fear of drowning is both physically and psychologically abusive, and it’s irrelevant to depression in humans,” says PETA India Campaigns Coordinator Ayushi Sharma. “PETA India is calling on pharmaceutical companies to enact policies against this indefensible waste of resources and animals’ lives.”
Four major pharmaceutical companies – Roche, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, and Boehringer Ingelheim – have ended their use of the forced swim test globally after discussions with PETA US scientists.
PETA India’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”. The group opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview that fosters violence towards other animals. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com
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