We Did It! University of Bristol Drops the Forced Swim Test

Posted by on January 30, 2025 | Permalink

Update (30 January 2025): We did it! University of Bristol Drops the Forced Swim Test
Great news! The University of Bristol has confirmed that it has stopped conducting the forced swim test and has no plans to use it again. The announcement follows a nearly 5-year campaign by PETA, which saw, among other actions, dozens of hard-to-miss protests on campus and across the city and more than 100,000 protest letters from members and supporters, including Dame Joanna Lumley, Sir Mark Rylance, Richard E Grant, Anjelica Huston. Thank you to everyone who joined our campaign! Our voices have been heard.

This campaign win is wonderful news for mice and rats. In this cruel test, animals are forced to experience the terror of near-drowning under the erroneous assumption that it can reveal something about human mental health conditions. The test is scientifically and ethically questionable, so much so that the Home Office has committed to eliminating it in the UK, the only occasion it has done so with a test on rodents.

We applaud the University of Bristol for backing good science and dropping the forced swim test.

Scroll down this blog to see all our actions over these years.

Update (4 November 2024): Student Opinion Poll Suggests Universities Must End Animal Experimentation

A Savanta poll commissioned by PETA of more than 1,000 young people, including those currently attending or considering attending university, found that an overwhelming majority believe universities should stop funding animal experimentation. Of the university-age students with a stance on the forced swim test, 78% said their opinion of their chosen university would be negatively affected if they found out the institution used the forced swim test. Sixty-three per cent of respondents said they’d be more likely to choose a university that doesn’t conduct the forced swim test if presented with two equally preferable options.

The results couldn’t be clearer: the vast majority of young people oppose using university funds to torture animals in experiments like the forced swim test and find cruelty in laboratories a major turn-off when choosing where to study. Learn more about the results here.

Update (31 October 2024): FOI Request Reveals No Forced Swimming for Over a Year

We were pleased to learn, via a recent freedom of information request, that the University of Bristol has not conducted the forced swim test or other forced swimming experiments in over a year. While rodents are experiencing a hiatus from being used in these horrendous experiments, the University of Bristol’s licence to use the test remains active. We will continue our campaign until the university confirms that it has no intention of conducting the test again. Please take a moment to send an e-mail to the vice chancellor of the university urging her to commit to ending the test at the institution:

Send a Message

Update (26 October 2024): Animal Defenders Crash University of Bristol Open Day Over Cruel Tests

The University of Bristol’s open day this year was truly embarrassing for the institution. Animal allies seized every opportunity to expose the cruelty of the notorious forced swim test to prospective students and their families.

We educated guests about the severe distress rats are subjected to during the near-drowning experiments, which ultimately end with the animals being killed and dissected.

Animal defenders also disrupted open day talks, urging the university to ban the forced swim test immediately.

It’s time the University of Bristol listened and dropped this cruel, archaic test in favour of superior human-relevant methods.


Update (2 October 2024): PETA Allies Disrupt University of Bristol VC at Q&A Event

We crashed a Q&A event in Bristol! An unstoppable PETA supporter unveiled a sign reading, “Bristol Uni: Drop the Forced Swim Test,” before University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor and President Evelyn Welch during an event in which she was participating.

We’ll keep campaigning until the university bans the cruel, unscientific forced swim test on animals. Watch how the events unfolded:


Update (27 September 2024): Animal Defenders Confront University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor During Speech at Yale

Animal allies disrupted a symposium organised by the Yale Center for British Art in the US, at which University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor and President Evelyn Welch was joining a discussion.

Holding signs, they confronted Welch and informed the audience that terrified rats and mice are being forced into inescapable beakers of water, where they frantically swim out of fear of drowning, before they’re eventually decapitated in the pointless forced swim test conducted at her institution. We won’t stop speaking out for rodents until this cruel test is dropped!

Update (22 August 2024): Anjelica Huston Joins PETA Campaign to End ‘Wicked’ Near-Drowning Experiment on Animals

Award-winning actor and longtime PETA ally Anjelica Huston has sent a letter to University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor and President Evelyn Welch urging her to end the institution’s use of the cruel forced swim test. Huston was recently in Bristol filming a new Agatha Christie mystery television series.

“Years ago, I played the Grand High Witch in The Witches, and this wicked experiment sounds like something she would have concocted! The misguided claim that the forced swim test may provide information about stress-related conditions in humans is nothing more than hocus pocus. What it’s really doing is frightening defenseless animals and getting in the way of the development of much-needed effective treatments for mental health conditions.”

– Anjelica Huston

Update (21 June 2024): PETA Supporters Gate-Crash University of Bristol President’s Reception in Hong Kong
Another event has been disrupted! PETA supporters interrupted a reception hosted by Professor Evelyn Welch, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Bristol, in Hong Kong. Unstoppable activists with banners told guests about the cruelty that’s being perpetrated behind the closed doors of the institution’s laboratories and urged the vice-chancellor to immediately drop the vile forced swim test.

Update (14 June 2024): PETA Takes Over University of Bristol Open Day
“New to Campus? Animal Torture Isn’t. Bristol Uni: Drop the Forced Swim Test!” – that was the nearly 10-metre-long message PETA displayed to potential new students as dedicated supporters handed out leaflets outside Senate House.

Adam Weeden's photography
Adam Weeden's photography
Adam Weeden's photography

Meanwhile, inside the building, we dropped a banner from the mezzanine encouraging everyone to take a stand against the forced swim test. It was impossible to miss:

Update (7 June 2024): PETA Supporters Kick Up a Stink at the University of Bristol
Earlier today, a group of PETA supporters holding signs reading, “UoB: Cruelty Stinks! Drop the Forced Swim Test,” stormed a University of Bristol networking event. One activist proclaimed, “The University of Bristol tortures rats and mice with a cruel near-drowning experiment called the forced swim test. Bristol: cruelty stinks! Drop the forced swim test now!”

Adam Weeden

Update (24 May 2024): Change Is in the Air: PETA Balloon Has a Life-Saving Message
Student activists collaborated with PETA to release a balloon banner at the University of Bristol. Everyone in Senate House saw the banner, which urged the university to let the forced swim test go!

Update (14 May 2024): PETA US Supporters Slam University of Bristol for Continuing to Use the Cruel Forced Swim Test at University Event in New York
Today, a throng of PETA US supporters confronted the University of Bristol’s vice-chancellor and president during an alumni event at The Century Association in New York.

Here’s what happened:


Update (24 April 2024): On World Day for Animals in Laboratories, ‘Dr Killsalot’ – the ‘Head of Animal Torture’ – Urges University of Bristol to ‘End the Mad Science’
To mark World Day for Animals in Laboratories, a PETA activist wearing a sooty laboratory coat, goggles, and gloves, posing as “Dr Killsalot” – the “Head of Animal Torture” – conducted a botched “experiment” outside a University of Bristol building. They stood before a table draped with a banner reading, “Bristol Uni: End the Mad Science. Drop the Forced Swim Test,” and containing three large water-filled cylinders with “rats” in them and smoky test tubes.

Elsewhere, in Bremen, Germany, PETA entity supporters crashed the Times Higher Education Europe Universities Summit, interrupting a speech by the University of Bristol’s vice-chancellor. Here’s how the events unfolded:

Update (5 April 2024): PETA Protests Outside Association for Art History Conference
PETA supporters protested outside the 2024 Association for Art History annual conference to speak up for animals in laboratories by pushing the University of Bristol – which was represented at the event – to drop the notorious forced swim test.

@petauk

Today we are at the 2024 annual conference of the Association for Art History, to keep speaking up for animals in laboratories and pushing the @University of Bristol attending the event, to drop the notorious forced swim test. #BristolBeNicetoMice #BadScience #endspeciesism

♬ original sound – PETA

Update (10 March 2024): PETA Offers £24k to University of Bristol to End Forced Swim Test
Because the University of Bristol retains the dubious distinction of being one of the last institutions in the UK to conduct the abysmally cruel forced swim test, PETA sent a letter to the institution’s vice-chancellor asking her to permanently end the use of the abhorrent test. If she agrees and implements a ban in 2024, PETA will donate £24,000 to the university.

Update (19 October 2023): PETA Disrupts State of the City Address Over University of Bristol’s Near-Drowning Test on Animals
PETA supporters stormed the stage at the Wills Memorial Building, disrupting the State of the City address at the 2023 Festival of the Future City, which included contributions from the mayor and the University of Bristol’s vice-chancellor, to expose the school’s shameful refusal to ban the cruel forced swim test.

https://twitter.com/PETAUK/status/1715046987739844620

Update (17 October 2023): PETA’s ‘Rat’ Protests Outside the University of Bristol’s London Alumni Branch Annual Lecture in the House of Lords
PETA supporters were outside of the University of Bristol’s London Alumni Branch Annual Lecture in the House of Lords urging the institution to drop the cruel forced swim test.

Update (9 September 2023):
As the University of Bristol welcomed 20,000 prospective students, PETA shared information that would surely be omitted from the day – mice and rats are tormented in the forced swim test.

PETA’s protesters shone a light on the university’s experiments on animals, and horrified parents expressed that they would share their concerns with university officials.

Update (13 July 2023):
PETA supporters joined by activists from Animal Rising invaded the stage at the Wills Memorial Building, disrupting a panel discussion about the future of universities that included the University of Bristol’s deputy vice chancellor and other officials, to expose the university’s shameful refusal to ban the cruel forced swim test.

Update (17 May 2023):

PETA US supporters armed with signs reading “Ban the animal torture” confronted University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor and President Evelyn Welch during a New York City alumni event.

Protesters exposed the institution’s shameful refusal to ban the forced swim test at the Raines Law Room lounge.

The activists filled the room chanting, “Ban the forced swim test now!” before being escorted out by security.

https://twitter.com/PETAUK/status/1658797317611192320

Update (16 May 2023):

BAFTA-winning actor Richard E Grant – who just kicked off his A Pocketful of Happiness book tour at the Bristol Hippodrome theatre – sent a letter to University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor Professor Evelyn Welch, appealing to her to end the university’s “horrific” forced swim experiments on terrified rats.

“My career has taken me everywhere from Penrith to a galaxy far, far away. And while I’ve experienced some absurd things on my travels, even I couldn’t believe it when I heard that the forced swim test is still used at your university,” writes Grant. “I can only imagine how terrified rats must feel as experimenters put them into inescapable beakers of water, in which they paddle frantically in search of an escape – pawing at the sides of the beaker and diving to the bottom – but to no avail. Once experimenters have finished subjecting the animals to this cruelty, they kill them.”

Update (23 March 2023):

Students at the University of Bristol took the lead and recently staged a sit-in at the university’s administrative hub, Beacon House. Security was immediately dispatched – but rather than forcibly removing the strong-willed activists, they wished them luck! Over the course of several hours, the students refused requests to leave and accepted even more support from those passing by.

Update: (4 March 2023):

A group of PETA supporters crashed the University of Bristol’s annual Neuroscience Festival at the Victoria Rooms, where they stormed the stage in order to expose the institution’s shameful refusal to ban the forced swim test.


Update (December 2022):

Campus or crime scene? Ahead of the University of Bristol’s December senate meeting, PETA supporters lay on the ground in the chalk outlines of rats outside the vice-chancellor’s office building in the city centre. Cordoned off with yellow tape, the “crime scene” drew attention to the university’s continued use of the cruel and useless forced swim test, which ultimately ends in the killing of sensitive, intelligent rats. Next to the bodies, evidence markers read, “Tormenting rats tells us nothing about human mental health” and “The forced swim test delays drug discovery”.

Update (November 2022):

“Uni of Bristol tortures rats in beerserk experiments. Take action to end it!” That’s the message a massive “rat” from PETA delivered outside the CAMRA Bristol Beer Festival. The unmissable mascot, flanked by PETA supporters, handed out custom-made beer mats to attendees, demanding that the University of Bristol ban controversial tests in which small animals are forced to swim for their lives before being killed.

Update (October 2022):

PETA’s “zombies” want to put the final nail in the forced swim test’s coffin. Ahead of Halloween, a mob of PETA supporters dressed as brain-dead zombie scientists swarmed Senate House to urge University of Bristol experimenters to use their brains, ban the cruel and useless forced swim test and other near-drowning experiments on small animals, and embrace modern, non-animal research.

September 2022:

PETA Hands Out Freebies to University of Bristol Students – But They Come With a Harsh Truth:
Today, partying students looking to rehydrate during Bristol Freshers  Fortnight had their thirst quenched – while receiving a lesson about the University of Bristol’s cruelty to animals – when our giant “rat” handed out free rodent-themed water bottles during the student union’s “How to Make Change” event.

fst_bristol_waterbottles

Visitors Warned of Animal Torture at University of Bristol Open Day
Ahead of the University of Bristol’s 2022 open day, PETA supporters unfurled a giant banner reading, “Uni of Bristol: Stop Torturing Animals! Ban the Forced Swim Test”. The enormous statement could be seen between Gatton Road and Waverley Street, hanging from the footbridge over the M32. The move was a protest against the university’s support of the forced swim test and intended to alert prospective students to the animal torment the institution continues to allow.

The following day, we continued to cause a ruckus and encourage people to spare a thought for the animals suffering in the university’s laboratories. Watch our supporters storming the open day and boldly disrupting the neuroscience talk with signs calling for the University of Bristol to ban the forced swim test:

PETA supporters also encouraged students to speak out against this archaic experiment, handing out badges opposing the test and leaflets explaining how the university continues to allow it.

August 2022:

PETA Crashes the Balloon Party With a Giant ‘Rat’
Just as the balloons were ready for lift-off today at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, our massive “rat” had an important message: “The Forced Swim Test Is Full of Hot Air”.

We attended the fiesta to demand that the University of Bristol ban the controversial test, in which small animals are forced to tread water.

April 2022:

PETA Haunts the University of Bristol With Grim Reapers
Ahead of World Day for Animals in Laboratories on the 24th April, “grim reapers” haunted the University of Bristol for tormenting and killing rats.

The ‘Grim Reapers’ are a haunting reminder for Vice Chancellor Brady to drop the cruel forced swim test before he leaves his post at the end of the academic year.

grim reapers bristol

Mark Rylance Urges the University of Bristol to Stop Tormenting Animals
Oscar-winning actor Sir Mark Rylance – who just finished performing in Dr Semmelweiss at the Bristol Old Vic – sent a letter to the University of Bristol’s vice-chancellor, Hugh Brady, appealing to him to end the university’s use of the “cruel and useless” forced swim test on rats.

“As you are no doubt aware, this test forces rats to experience the fear of drowning. Researchers put the small animals into inescapable beakers of water, in which they have no choice but to paddle frantically as they search for an escape.”

– Sir Mark Rylance

©starmaxinc.com

The Forced Swim Test Is Bad Science

As Rylance points out in his letter, these experiments are used in attempts to study human conditions such as mental health disorders – but the test is not required or beneficial for producing new treatments for humans. “I’m urging you to listen to the science and end these tests immediately,” the actor writes.

February 2022:

Valentine’s Day: PETA Urges University of Bristol to Have a Heart for Animals
As an early valentine for University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor Hugh Brady, Mayor of the West of England Dan Norris and PETA’s rat mascot – decked out as Cupid – gave the University of Bristol a pointed message.

We gathered outside the Wills Memorial Building with signs proclaiming, “University of Bristol: Have a Heart, Drop the Forced Swim Test.”

Bristol Mayor Forced Swim Test

December 2021:

University of Bristol: Students’ Union Condemns Forced Swim Test!
PETA collaborated with the University of Bristol’s Vegan Society, which proposed a motion to the Students’ Union urging it to oppose the cruel and debunked forced swim test.

Celebrations are in order, as the Students’ Union has passed the motion!

The motion will now become part of the Students’ Union policy for the next three years.

If the University of Bristol continues its use of the forced swim test, it will only be demonstrating how out of touch it is with its students as well as modern science, which uses non-animal testing methods.

PETA ‘Rat’ Gives Out Free Face Masks – With a Message
The action took place as COVID-19 cases rise again and the government is “strongly advising” that staff and students wear face coverings on university campuses. The masks feature an image of a rat trying desperately to stay afloat and highlight the plight of animals experimented on at the universities.

The masks take a jab at the University of Bristol and the University of Bath for refusing to ban the widely discredited forced swim test. We hope that kind people will help animals and keep themselves and others safe by wearing these face masks with pride.

November 2021:

The Age of Experiments on Animals Is Over
Stomping up to the University of Bristol, PETA “dinosaurs” roared an important message to experimenters: stop using the widely discredited forced swim test.

Watching rats gasp and scramble inside glass containers is not science. This cruel and worthless test actually impedes the development of new treatments and cures. So, we’re calling on the University of Bristol to evolve by dropping the forced swim test in favour of superior, non-animal research methods.

September 2021:

PETA Makes a Splash in Bristol With Drowning Rat Billboard
As part of PETA’s campaign to urge the University of Bristol to end its use of the forced swim test and embrace advanced, non-animal research, we’ve erected a giant billboard in the area with a powerful message.

The ad calls for the university to end its use of this archaic, cruel experiment. It reads, “Shame on University of Bristol. Ban the forced swim test NOW. The ‘science’ doesn’t hold water.”

‘Rat’ Dunked in Tank to Protest Cruel Tests at University of Bristol
A PETA “rat” flailed in a tank filled with over 2000 litres of water in Bristol’s Queen Square in a demonstration to urge the University of Bristol to ban the widely discredited forced swim test.

The action is part of PETA’s campaign to put pressure on the university to reject this cruel experiment and embrace superior, non-animal research.

PETA ‘Rat’ Stands Against Bad Forced Swim Test Science
A scurrying “rat” led PETA supporters to Bristol Bridge to watch us drop a giant banner over the north-side railings to rail against the University of Bristol’s use of the forced swim test.

James Beck

James Beck

August 2021:

The Things the University of Bristol Does to Rats Are Absolutely Awful – Joanna Lumley Agrees
The University of Bristol’s vice-chancellor and president, Hugh Brady, received a letter this week from acting icon Joanna Lumley, imploring him to end the university’s “ghastly” use of the forced swim test.

“As a long-time advocate for animals, I felt obliged to write to you about the near-drowning experiments conducted at the University of Bristol. As you must know, these experiments, also referred to as the ‘forced swim test’, involve trapping small animals in cylinders of water and forcing them to swim to keep from drowning.”

– Joanna Lumley

Joanna Lumley

July 2021:

What Happened at Our Forced Swim Test Virtual Disruptions?
PETA and fellow activists held virtual protests to campaign against the use of the forced swim test in university laboratories recently. We joined the University of Bath’s and University of Bristol’s open days to ask why the universities haven’t ditched the cruel test and switched to humane, non-animal research methods.

So what happened? The open days presented an exceptional opportunity to submit questions to the events’ hosts through their online chat. This enabled us to raise awareness among prospective students of the universities’ cruel treatment of animals and prompt the science departments to reconsider their use of the forced swim test.

During experimenters’ talks about the science departments, PETA and our fellow activists sent direct messages to them, asking them why they continued to use the test. In one of the University of Bristol’s talks, our question about the forced swim test was the most popular listed.

Loads of PETA supporters also caused a stir on social media with tweets urging the universities to open their hearts on their open days and drop the tests. Here are a few of our favourites:


Thank you to everyone who spoke out at the open days and on social media.

April 2021:

Banned! PETA’s Near-Drowning Mice Ads Rejected From Buses
First Group has refused to place PETA ads depicting the forced swim test – an experiment conducted at the universities of Bath and Bristol – on buses taking students to and from the institutions.

The ads highlight the cruelty of the experiments, during which mice are forced to swim for their lives in beakers of water. First Group stated the reason it rejected the ads was “due to the sensitivity of the subject”.

February 2021:

‘Have a Heart This Valentine’s Day’: Universities Urged to Drop Forced Swim Test
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, PETA is sending mouse-shaped vegan chocolates to the vice chancellors of the University of Bath and the University of Bristol to encourage both to have a heart and end their institutions’ use of small animals in the forced swim test.

The delivery is part of PETA’s campaign to push the universities to reject the cruel and widely debunked test and embrace superior, non-animal research.

December 2020:

Will Poulter Urges University of Bristol to Ban Forced Swim Experiments
PETA and actor Will Poulter are urging the University of Bristol to ban cruel and worthless forced swim experiments.

After learning that the University of Bristol subjects rats to terror and panic in forced swim experiments, PETA shared information with the institution about the lack of scientific and ethical value of these tests. However, it continues to pursue methods that the scientific community has shown to be flawed.

Now, Will has taken a stand for these animals by sending the university, his alma mater, a letter highlighting the scientific and ethical issues associated with these cruel tests. And we’ll keep putting pressure on the university until no animals are subjected to the useless experiments.

Rats Are Forced to Tread Water, Then Killed

In the widely criticised tests, experimenters induce panic in vulnerable small animals such as rats, who may or may not be dosed with a substance, by putting them into inescapable cylinders of water in which they must swim, terrified they will drown.

They attempt to climb the steep sides of the container and even dive underwater to look for an escape. This is done under the erroneous assumption it can reveal something about mental health conditions in humans.

Once the test is complete, experimenters kill the animals – either by gassing, blunt force trauma to the head, an overdose of anaesthetic, or breaking their necks – to study their brains.

Several universities, including King’s College London, and many major pharmaceutical companies have stopped subjecting animals to these cruel near-drowning tests. It’s time the University of Bristol followed suit and invested in humane, human-relevant, non-animal methods.

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