World Day for Animals in Laboratories: PETA Protests Cruel Tests in Bath

Ahead of World Day for Animals in Laboratories (24 April), a trio of PETA “scientists” made a splash in Bath’s city centre. They dunked “mice” into beakers of water to denounce the University of Bath’s continued use of the widely discredited forced swim test.

We’re urging the university to reject the cruel test and embrace superior, non-animal research.

What Is Being Done in Bath Laboratories?

See for yourself. This footage is from the university’s laboratories:

You can see defenceless mice frantically swimming in sheer-sided containers. Over the course of three years, experimenters there recorded more than 300 forced swim test videos.

What Is the Point of the Forced Swim Test?

In the test, experimenters place mice and other small animals in inescapable beakers of water in which they frantically swim to keep from drowning. At some point, they stop swimming and start floating.

Experimenters compare the amount of time spent swimming and floating, purportedly to shed light on human depression and to screen antidepressant drugs.

Yet scientists have criticised the test. Experts argue that floating is not a sign of depression or despair but rather a positive indicator of learning, saving energy, and adapting to a new environment.

The results of the forced swim test are about as accurate as a coin toss, and it causes hundreds of mice terror and distress.