Cats Suffering In Vision Research At University of Sydney

Stumbled upon an article on the net regarding University of Sydney and their animal experiments on cats. here is a little part of it. And thank’s to Humane research Australia for the great job they do!

And remember before you read, they make NO mention of any relevance this research may have to humans…

In this particular experiment eleven adult cats underwent highly invasive surgical procedures that included the removal of part of the skull as well as bilateral cervical sympathectomy (intentionally cutting the nerve supply to parts of the head and eyes).  During the experiments the cats’ heads were restrained in a stereotaxic device and the animals received muscle relaxants in addition to a general anaesthetic.

Prior to the actual experiment, the preparation involved the brain of each cat being exposed by way of a craniotomy (surgical removal of a portion of the skull). A plastic cylinder was glued to the skull forming a well around the craniotomy and a small opening was made in the brain matter above the recording site. A stainless steel microelectrode was positioned above it and coated with dye and slowly advanced into area 18 of the brain and lesions were made. Neuron activity was then recorded.

Pharmaceutical solutions were applied to the eyes to dilate the pupils and to retract the blinking membranes. The eyes were focused on a screen position 57 cm in front of the cat using corrective lenses. Artificial pupils were positions in the centre of the dilated pupils and the optic discs of each eye were projected onto the screen.

At the end of the experiment each cat was killed and the brain removed and studied.

Article in full: Humane Research Australia

The University of Sydney has also administered speed and ecstasy to rats under high temperature conditions in order to replicate the mixture of these drugs in a nightclub atmosphere….