Animal experiments at Cardiff University rise by 13%

In one shocking experiment, 19 kittens were subjected to invasive surgery in which their windpipes were sliced, catheters were inserted into their blood vessels, and electrodes implanted into their brains. In 2009, the University used 46 cats in research, more than a quarter of all the cats used in research facilities in the UK during that period.

Animal Aid exposed Cardiff University in its 2006 ‘Mad Science’ awards, for conducting particularly pointless and grotesque research on rats. In one experiment, rats were trained to press a lever to obtain a food reward, and to swim through a water maze to a hidden escape platform. Researchers then injected some of the rats with a toxic chemical to destroy different areas of the brain, and forced them to repeat the tests. They concluded that more animal experiments were needed to study brain damage.