Reader’s Note
The following article contains descriptions of real laboratory experiments
on animals. Some details are distressing, but they reflect the reality we often
overlook.
Please read with compassion — not to dwell in anger or sorrow, but to
understand and to help. My purpose is to give voice to those who cannot speak,
to open eyes to the truth, and to inspire small acts of change — sharing
information, choosing cruelty-free products, or signing petitions that can make
a difference.
A Voice for Those Who Cannot Speak
Let this be a voice for those who cannot speak. Please read the following —
even though it’s brutal (very brutal — I emphasize) — because I want you to
know the truth.
Laboratory mice are animals legally subjected to horrific cruelty. If I
weren’t a translator and hadn’t read many books in details, I might never have
learned the reality of this. Below is a brief summary of real cases that
laboratory mice have experienced — and in many places still experience. (These
are all documented cases; you can find the experiment names and case reports.)
Tragically, some researchers still cite these cases as if they are normal.
• Some mice were given electric shocks whenever they heard a bell for many
consecutive days, just to observe whether, in later trials, ringing the bell
alone (without a shock) would trigger a reaction. Of course the researchers
witnessed utter terror — terror so extreme it would break the heart. That fear
can even be passed down to the unborn offspring. Was it necessary to provoke
trauma this way? Doesn’t human experience of traumatic events already teach us
what trauma is?
• Mice were placed in tanks of water with no way to escape. In the first
group, the mice gave up and drowned within minutes. In a second, more cruel
group, the mice were dropped in for a few minutes and then rescued; later they
were dropped in again and left to drown to see how long hope would make them
resist. Mice that believed help might come suffered for up to an hour before
finally succumbing in despair — all to measure how hope affects persistence
under distress.
• Hundreds of mice were surgically joined together — their abdomens
stitched to form pairs so their circulatory systems were linked. Researchers
then induced hormonal or behavioral abnormalities in one animal (for example,
forcing compulsive overeating) to see whether the paired partner would be
affected. In another experiment, an old mouse was sewn to a young mouse to test
whether the young mouse’s blood would make the older one “younger.” Fifty mice
died during or shortly after the joining procedure, and many of the surviving
partners became so depressed they died later. Some researchers hailed the
latter experiments as “successful,” and wealthy people even discussed the idea
of injecting young blood into themselves to delay aging. What societal good does
this serve? (Shockingly, some countries have not banned such methods.)
• Undercover activists who entered university laboratories in recent years
found that retired lab mice are often simply killed — not always humanely. One
witness saw 23 mice killed by snapping their necks with a hinged metal cage —
and one of those mice didn’t die instantly but lay there paralyzed.
• In other undercover reports, scientists reportedly took newborn pink mice
that were no longer needed, swabbed them with alcohol, and killed them by
cutting their necks with scissors. The paperwork, however, claimed the animals
had been iced in a freezer for four minutes first (a method that is itself
painful).
• Beyond the examples above, lab mice endure many other tortures: slow
poisoning; forced ingestion of poison (reported as toxicology tests);
deliberate induction of cancer; forced drug addiction by pumping cocaine or
other substances into their bodies; extreme confinement in tiny cages to
provoke stress and self-harm; genetic surgeries that leave animals severely
deformed; being hung upside down for weeks; placed on hot metal plates to
measure how long they can endure; skull surgeries to implant electrodes so they
can be repeatedly shocked to induce seizures; intestinal surgeries that let
feces leak into the abdomen to cause sepsis for study — and more.
All of this — and many other horrors — is the reality for laboratory mice
(and for other animals too, including monkeys, rabbits, and dogs). Most people
don’t know this. It’s painful to realize that human beings — capable of love,
creativity, and reason — can also inflict such suffering without recognizing
it. When compassion is replaced by detachment, even good intentions can go
astray. This is the tragedy behind much of animal experimentation today: it
continues under the banner of “science,” even when it is unnecessary or causes
immense pain. Many researchers themselves have begun to question this system,
and more voices are rising to call for methods that do not involve cruelty.
Animals cannot speak. They cannot beg us in words to stop. They cannot go
anywhere to ask for help. So please help them however you can: share this
information, sign the petition linked below, and support cruelty-free products.
Thank you.
P.S. If a mouse enters your home, humane live traps are effective — catch
it and release it outside. Please don’t use glue traps where the animal suffers
stuck to the adhesive until it dies. Mice have already suffered enough at human
hands.
🌿 A Final Word
Every life matters — even the smallest, even those hidden away in cages
we’ll never see. Each act of kindness, each choice to speak out, helps build a
gentler world. As Jane Goodall reminds us, we all have a mission. The things we
do — however small — can make this planet a better home for all living beings.
And perhaps, beyond this life, love and compassion are the only things that
truly endure.
Written by: me
Translated by: Echo
