Piglets used in heart experiments at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts, were put through invasive procedures, left without timely care, and later found dead in their enclosures, according to allegations from the animal rights group PETA. The group is now calling for a federal investigation.

“They were living, feeling beings who were treated like disposable raw materials in a system that took what it wanted from their bodies,” said Dr. Alka Chandna, PETA’s Vice President of Laboratory Investigations.

PETA says this is not the first time. The group points to earlier animal deaths at the school tied to dehydration, poor monitoring, and breakdowns in communication with veterinarians. PETA also says federal inspectors have cited UMass Chan before over its record-keeping for medical care and anesthesia, pain relief, and the way procedures were done.

Questions also surround where the animals came from. PETA wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to find out whether Earle M. Parsons & Sons Inc., the company it says provided three pigs to the school, had legal permission to sell them. One of those three pigs died.

UMass Chan is Massachusetts’ public medical school, and the public deserves to know that animals in its labs are treated according to the law. Researchers today also have growing options that do not rely on animals, including human cell models, organ-on-a-chip technology, and computer simulations.

The USDA should open a full investigation into the treatment of these pigs and the supplier that sold them. UMass Chan leadership should cooperate fully, make the findings public, and commit to replacing animal experiments with modern alternatives wherever possible. UMass Chan had not responded to the allegations when they were first reported.

Sign the petition to demand a full federal investigation before more animals suffer in these labs.