Double Trouble’s Tragic Case Inspires Petition Calling For UW to Cease Experiments on Cats

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By Karen Harrison Binette

The cat pictured here is Double Trouble, whose life ended in a lab at the University of Wisconsin, Madison campus after invasive experiments that used her in a manner that can be called inhumane, to say the least.

Local resident and UW grad Reannon Branchesi has started a petition at Change.org, using a video that includes photos and other documentation from Double Trouble’s case to reinforce her argument and plea.

 

Though we have seen Double Trouble’s photo accompanying links in various places on Facebook in the last two days, the petition, which has a 25,000 signature goal, currently still needs over 9,000 more signatures.

We have watched the video and chose not to include it here, in deference to many readers’ sensibilities. It can be viewed at the petition page by anyone who wants to see for themselves.  It is not for everyone.

Anyone who wants to sign the petition at change.org can click the link here:

Petitioning National Institutes of Health
University of Wisconsin: Stop Experimenting On Cats

The  petition reads as follows:

Why is the University of Wisconsin – Madison torturing cats? This has to stop. And the National Institutes of Health (NIH) needs to stop funding cruelty to animals.

I’m a native Wisconsinite, got my degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and I’m raising my family in Madison, so it makes me especially sick to know that violent animal tests are being conducted in a place that I love. You would never expect such an ugly and cruel thing to happen on an otherwise beautiful campus in a wonderful city.

According to documents obtained by PETA, a cat named Double Trouble had her eyes, ears, and brain operated on. Steel coils were implanted into her eyes and a stainless steel post was screwed into her skull so that her head could be immobilized during experiments. Then, she had holes drilled into her skull so that electrodes could be inserted in her brain. Experimenters then applied a toxic substance to her inner ears to deafen her and electrical implants were placed deep inside both of her ears.

Don’t believe me? Watch the video.

I know that UW-Madison can do better than this, and I don’t want my tax dollars used to support NIH-funded cruelty.

Please sign my petition asking University of Wisconsin to stop all experiments on cats and ask the NIH to stop funding this cruelty everywhere it takes place.

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42 thoughts on “Double Trouble’s Tragic Case Inspires Petition Calling For UW to Cease Experiments on Cats”

  1. THIS IS NOT WHAT ANIMALS WERE MADE FOR, TORTURE, INHUMANE TREATMENT TO THESE CATS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE AND MUST STOP. THESE CATS DON’T DESERVE TORTURE THEY DESERVE LOVE!

  2. This is pure evil, the lab techs/ scientists should be charged with cruelty to animals. This is nothing but torture, and makes me sick to my stomach. Surely anyone that can inflict this sort of cruelty and torture to an innocent being has alot in common with a psychopath.

  3. There is something terribly wrong with the human brain process to knowingly torture an innocent animal in the name of research for the benefit of mankind.

    These ‘researchers’ should be charged with animal abuse. Can you imagine the terrible suffering and misery this poor cat went through? Just when she had suffered through one gross experiment, they subjected her to another and another.

    The researchers will give the excuse that it is ‘justified’. This kind of torture is never justified! It is the equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition!

    Agree with the comment that criminals should be used. They are no use for anything else and they owe society a debt for their crimes.

    Animals were not created for humans to use and abuse. Some ‘stewards of the earth’ we are!

  4. I hope there is a publicity campaign to shine a spotlight on the university so the public is informed. Donors, university supporters and the general public needs to know..not just the community of animal lovers willing to sign a petition which when delivered, may or may not have any consequence. Maybe find some alumni with notoriety willing to make some noise.

  5. This is inhuman on so many levels. This is not science. These are actions of a psychopath. This is barbaric and appalling! Funding MUST be stopped. I demand this case be investigated and the sick bastards responsible for this heinous crime have criminal charges filed against them. There are MANY angry people who are looking at the University of Wisconsin for answers. I have read comments from people that, in my opinion, appear threatening. It is apparent the University gives no value to the lives of animals, but now they are putting their students at risk. Do they not at least put a value on the lives of their students? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how much more harm can come from this! Stop the funding for these out dated experiments before innocent people get hurt!

  6. stop this torture of innocent animals, we are in the year 2012 and how can we put up with this kind of barbaric behavior? there are constantly debates about people’s rights etc. but where are the animal’s rights? they are living feeling creatures and just because they can’t talk and tell these people off, does not give anyone the right to perform disgusting procedures on them. only a cold hearted monster would do the procedures that were in this article

  7. I am so glad to see this heinous article and the video posted up on your website!! I first saw it on You Tube on the PETA channel and shared it with so many channels and so many said they couldn’t sign the petition because they couldn’t bear to look! Who can bare to look let alone think this can be??
    If we don’t look we allow it to go on!
    It is nauseating and beyond inhumane and the least we can do is to sign the petition. God help us and these poor animals.

  8. Everyone please sign and be a voice for this beautiful cat so stupidly named- she would of fought and tried to free herself like any living person would, to think she was called trouble for doing so.
    Research on animals is not used in trial s with humans EVER, human trial s are always needed with consent first before any medication or such is used on people
    animals in research should be redundant – make it so people

  9. how can people be so cruel how bout we lock the humans up and do this to them…we need to stand up and fight for these animals

  10. Hi Suzi,
    I decided that in this case it was better to keep the video at the petition page and not bring it here. No apology necessary. 😉

  11. Torturing any animals at the UW for medical research is absolutely unacceptable! I sincerely hope that the UW will review its research policies & procedures and choose to include integrity, dignity & respect. Horrific experiments on animals should not be funded by our tax dollars!

  12. To Admin: thank you for posting this from the bottom of my heart, God Bless you! I signed the petition, shared, wrote to my representatives, post stuff in the university FB page and do not know what else to do to help these poor lovely souls. The media is not publishing this a lot. Please everyone share this so that we can raise awareness. It looks like the experimenters cannot be legally held accountable for animal cruelty since our laws protect them!!! Seems that labs and universities have been given green light to to whatever they want, that laws are abusive and need to be changed.

  13. this make me feel so sad.. i super love cats and i treat my cats as my own baby and what i heard now is just so cruel and make me feel so sad.. bad bad bad! :'( it breaks my heart :'((( how could they have a soul to do that!*cry *cry *cry

  14. You are absolutely right, showing this video to president of the University and its Board of Directors would no doubt produce the desires results. Not necessarily because they’ll care about the poor cat, but because they won’t want to deal with the controversy. Posting fliers on campus and informing the student body as to the experiments would be another solution. I imagine the vasty majority of UW students would have a problem with this cruelty is they knew of it.

  15. the so called humans that did this to the cats deserve to be used for experimental purposes not innocent animals lets see how long they bloody well last being tortured and depressed anyone who engages in this kind of activity is sick and usually people who do this kind of thing end up doing things to humans if you take a look at psychopaths they started out with animals then eventually go on to humans I feel so very very sad for this poor cat an any other animal who has no choice but to go through this horrible evil act for human gratification all in the name of funding. RIP double Trouble and any other animal who has been subjected to this torture God Bless you animals

  16. I coud not agree with your statement and everyone elses more, but your point was well made, innocent peoples lives are at risk. If I was to encounter one of these so called students you can bet I would kick the living shit out of them. It is sick, disgusting and makes me wanna vomit. I would walk out of this lab and throw away my academic future and take the cats with me.

  17. I tell you you will indeed burn in hell-pysopathic bastards-if i could i would kick the living hell out of you!!!Experiment on all these sickos in prison that taxpayers money are being wasted on-leave the poor innocent animals alone!!May God’s wrath come down on your sick heads and may it be TEN TIMES worse than what you did to those poor babies!!!That is my prayer.

  18. I hope everyone involved in this torture faces charges. I will never be able to remove the images of that poor animals suffering from my mind.

  19. Honestly, this made me change my mind about going into veterinary science research. I want to help animals not hurt them. This made me sick. I would never want to do this to any animal; this is horrible. I would rather be a lawyer than do this. God; this is barbaric…I cannot unsee the images of Double Trouble (I saw more on other websites)…this image is seared in my head.

  20. OMG YES AND WHY????
    why are humans so cruel to animals and why is animal testing allowed?
    How cruel can people be to animals?

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