Urgent: Stop Cruel Taser Tests on Pigs at UW-Madison

Urgent: Stop Cruel Taser Tests on Pigs at UW-Madison

University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor John Webster plans
to conduct an experiment in which live pigs will be shocked with
Taser stun guns.

Using a $500,000 taxpayer-funded grant provided by the U.S.
Department of Justice, Webster will attach electrodes directly to
the pigs' skin and implant catheters near their hearts to measure
the voltage of the Taser shocks. He also plans to use a "super-Taser"
device to induce heart arrhythmia, as well as applying overdoses of
cocaine to the pigs, ostensibly to mimic the effects of fleeing human
suspects high on drugs.

What makes this experiment even more outrageous is the fact that
similar Taser studies have been conducted with pigs (and dogs) on
at least four other occasions. There are ample human data available
for study, as these stun guns have been widely used by
law-enforcement agencies for several years.

Experts in the field agree that the best way to determine whether
Tasers are safe is to study the data gathered from the many cases
in which people have suffered adverse affects or died as a result
of Taser shocks.

Please contact University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John
D. Wiley and politely urge him to put an immediate end to this utterly
unnecessary and ill-conceived experiment and return the grant to the
Department of Justice:

John D. Wiley, Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
608-262-8333 (fax)
mailto:chancellor@news.wisc.edu