The US Navy has scrapped decompression tests conducted on sheep.
The brutal tests were scheduled to continue for another two years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. However, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro urging the Navy to end all oxygen toxicity and decompression experiments on any living animals.
The letters and pressure from PETA follow the discovery of the traumatic effects of the tests on the animals. These included two sheep that had to be euthanized in July 2022 after showing “signs of discomfort” after a decompression test in 2022.
According to PETA Vice President Shalin Gala:
“That sheep will no longer have the life literally squeezed out of them in crude and archaic decompression tests at UW-Madison is cause for celebration. PETA is now calling on the Navy to prohibit such tests on all animals in favor of superior, human-relevant research.”
