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For decades, experimenters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
(UW) have been conducting cruel and useless taxpayer-funded "sound
localization" studies in which cats have steel coils implanted in their
eyes, holes drilled into their skulls, and electrodes implanted in their
brains. Sometimes, cats used in this experiment have had their ears cut
off or are intentionally deafened by having a toxic chemical applied to
their inner ear. The cats are then deprived of food for several days in
order to coerce them to look in the direction of sounds during
experimental sessions in which their heads are immobilized by a bolt
screwed into their skulls.

Internal UW documents and photographs obtained by PETA in response to
a successful lawsuit detail the miserable life and death of one of the
cats, a gentle tabby named Double Trouble,
who was abused and killed in this barbaric experiment. In one instance,
Double Trouble woke up while experimenters were cutting into her head.
Following a series of invasive surgeries, she developed infections,
became lethargic and depressed, started to twitch, and suffered
paralysis in half her face. After UW deemed the experiment a failure,
the experimenters killed and decapitated Double Trouble so that they
could examine her brain.

Experimenters have justified the use of 30 cats like Double
Trouble per year in this cruel project not by saying that it would
enhance human health but by stating that they needed to "keep up a
productive publication record that ensures our constant funding."

Shockingly, the federal government continues to support this
irrelevant and deadly project and has provided UW with more than $3
million in grant money to abuse animals—even though researchers at other
institutions around the world are already using modern methods with
human volunteers to investigate how the brain locates and processes
sound.

PETA has called on federal officials to investigate the circumstances
surrounding Double Trouble's horrendous treatment and take disciplinary
action against UW for likely violations of federal animal welfare laws.
You can help our efforts by contacting the National Institutes of
Health and urging the agency to cut funding for this crude and deadly
project.

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