Strikingly Racist Taxpayer-funded ‘Mouse Fight’ Study Raises Complaint

PETA is committed to the NIH’s commitment to funding more racially diverse scientists using human-friendly, animal-free research methods

For immediate release:
May 24, 2021

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Washington – In letters sent this morning to Director of the National Institute for Minority Health and Inequalities in Health (NIMHD) Eliseo Perez-Stable and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Susan Rice, PETA aims to conduct an experiment funded by taxpayer racism. University of Illinois at Chicago by Lisa Tussing-Humphries. In a study, she forces mice to fight each other to “mimic” the “violence seen in urban AA.” [African American] communities “- ostensibly to develop” new strategies to reduce racial inequality “in colorectal cancer.

PETA is calling for the cancellation of the study, which is funded until June 2022. In a letter to NIMHD, PETA points out that forcing mice to fight each other clearly does not accurately mimic the real life experiences of black Americans, and the Tussing-Humphries experiment ignores systemic racism and other complex socioeconomic factors that create inequalities in health. in communities of color.

“We also urge you to implement the Research Modernization Agreement,” the letter says, “a strategy to move away from animal models,” which in 90% of cases do not provide treatment for humans. He is supported by the National Medical Association and the National Hispanic Medical Association, which work to bridge health inequities and collectively represent 100,000 African American and Latino doctors. ”

PETA points to research showing that the National Institutes of Health is less likely to fund or even consider proposals from black researchers, who are more likely to focus on health inequalities, prevention, and patient intervention, and are significantly less likely to experiment on animals than whites in their letter to Rice. experimenters. Animal experiments like Tussing-Humphries, which have received more than $ 840,000 from taxpayers through NIMHD over the past two years, are receiving funding even though they are not related to human health.

PETA, whose motto is in part that “animals are not ours to experiment on” – opposes arrogance, a worldview focused on human excellence. PETA letters to federal officials are available upon request. For more information please visit PETA.org or subscribe to the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram…