In a shocking display of disregard for life, NYU Langone Medical Center has conducted experiments that disrupt the natural birth process in mice, resulting in profound suffering and death for both mothers and their pups.

CAARE is demanding an immediate end to these baseless experiments. Send your letter to tell NYU that "scientific curiosity" is no excuse for the deliberate infliction of pain and death.

Researchers genetically engineered female mice to lack a hormone essential for triggering birth contractions. These mice could carry a pregnancy to term but were physically unable to give birth.

In the experiments, seventeen of the genetically modified pregnant mice were placed in cages — some with companions and some alone.

In a display of intelligence and sentience, researchers observed that companion mice attempted to help the pregnant mice in labor. Female companions who had previously given birth provided the most aid, using their paws and mouths to help deliver the newborns. Even male mice attempted to assist.

Disturbingly, the researchers left several mice entirely alone to labor without assistance. In these cases, they did nothing to intervene and as a result every mother and every unborn pup died.

The fact that researchers watched this suffering unfold without intervention shocks the conscience. It demonstrates a total lack of regard for sentient life and a chilling absence of the very empathy they claim to be studying.

We already know that mice are highly social, compassionate animals. In a separate, unrelated study, scientists observed mice attempting to resuscitate unconscious cage-mates. These mice performed deliberate, persistent efforts to revive their partners, including shaking them and attempting to clear their airways.

This "CPR" behavior indicates high-level reasoning and emotional depth. It is a bitter irony that these animals show more "humanity" toward one another than the scientists do toward them.

While this specific birth experiment may have ended, this NYU lab has a long history of invasive brain experiments on mice, including implanting brain electrodes claiming to study the neurobiology of social interactions between mother and child. These experiments are ongoing.

Please take immediate action to end these dreadful experiments by contacting NYU Langone Medical Center to demand they permanently stop these inhumane and pointless “social behavior” experiments.

Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research and Experimentation (CAARE), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, established to highlight and promote research without animals. Please donate to support CAARE’s mission to reduce animal suffering by disseminating information about the power and progress of research without animals. 

We gratefully accept gifts from Donor Advised Funds. Our legal name is Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research and Experimentation, EIN: 46-5261800, P.O. Box 102, Ardsley, NY 10502.