People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) supporters gathered at the University of Nevada, Reno's campus on Friday for a protest against the school's funding of muscular dystrophy experiments on dogs at the Texas A&M University (TAMU).
"Experimenters have been breeding dogs to suffer from a canine form of muscular dystrophy for four decades, yet no cure or successful treatment for the disease in humans has been found," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "PETA is calling on the University of Nevada to stop funding these useless and indefensibly cruel experiments."
Protests will also be taking place at universities in Columbia, Missouri, Seattle, Florida, and Philadelphia in a demonstration against TAMU.
The University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine released a statement in response to the protests.
They said that they and the University of Nevada, Reno do not conduct dog research or testing.
They have been awarded a grant through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and as part of the work, a study will be outsourced through a subcontract to TAMU to help understand the best approach for the delivery of therapy for muscular dystrophy.
They will be using the laminin-111 protein, developed by UNR Med faculty members.
The UNR School of Medicince said that they understand the concern from protesters and said, "The upcoming studies have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) at Texas A&M and at the University of Nevada, Reno. We seek to end the suffering of children and adults who are affected by the disease."
You can view the full statement here:
