Protesting Animal Testing, Intruders Vandalize Italian Lab 285
ananyo writes "Activists occupied an animal facility at the University of Milan, Italy, at the weekend, releasing mice and rabbits and mixing up cage labels to confuse experimental protocols. Researchers at the university say that it will take years to recover their work. Many of the animals at the facility are genetic models for psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Some of the mice removed by activists were delicate mutants and immunosuppressed 'nude' mice, which die very quickly outside controlled environments. No arrests have been made following the 12-hour drama, which took place on Saturday, although the university says that it will press charges against the protesters. The attack was staged by the animal-rights group that calls itself Fermare Green Hill (or Stop Green Hill), in reference to the Green Hill dog-breeding facility near Brescia, Italy, which it targets for closure."
Stupid is as stupid does (Score:4, Informative)
While I'm not wild about animal testing, I recognize the necessity. Moreover, I know you can't "liberate" an animal that might survive a week in the wild, if that. Do these morons plan to give their immunosuppressed rats nice comfortable homes for the rest of their lives? From experience I can tell you that cats and dogs raised in lab environments emphatically do NOT make good pets and certainly can't care for themselves. If released, they will simply starve slowly. I'm also guessing that the people who released the animals dont' have the money to sustain them all to the end of their lives and that one way or another, most will end up in a public facility, euthanized. At taxpayer expense, of course.