PETA Calls For State Audit Of University Of MN After 'COVID-19-Related Animal Killings'

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is calling for the state auditor to look into the University of Minnesota for COVID-19-related killings of animals.

In a letter sent to a the state auditor Wednesday, PETA said that euthanasia of animals in the university's laboratories have been conducted after animal experiments were deemed non-essential during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to PETA, the university received $675 million in state appropriations in the last fiscal year, and some may have gone to funding animal experiments that were then postponed or canceled. PETA says that the U of M urged experimenters in March to euthanize the animals as soon as data was collected.

"The University of Minnesota's experiments on animals were undoubtedly cruel, and apparently not even the school can justify them," PETA Vice President Shalin Gala said. "PETA is calling on state officials to follow the money and prevent taxpayer waste—and animal suffering—in laboratories that should never have received funding in the first place."

PETA says most animal experimentation wastes resources and lives. More information here.

In:
• PETA
• COVID-19
• University of Minnesota