Gentle baby rabbits are being genetically engineered to suffer seizures, convulsions, and sudden death—all in the name of research.

At SUNY’s Upstate Medical School, federally funded experimenters are breeding rabbits designed to experience fatal epilepsy. They’re injected, exposed to flashing lights, and forced to hyperventilate, all to trigger seizures. Their suffering is recorded on camera. None of them live past nine months.

These experiments are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) using over $1.5 million in taxpayer money.

This isn’t medical progress. It’s cruelty.

A USDA inspection already cited the lab for failing to consider alternatives to these painful procedures. Yet the NIH extended the funding, allowing these horrific tests to continue through 2026.

Millions of Americans love rabbits as companions. No animal, especially one as gentle and trusting as a rabbit, should be bred to die in agony for data collection.

We’re calling on the NIH and U.S. Congress to immediately cut funding for seizure experiments on rabbits and redirect resources toward ethical, non-animal research methods.

These animals deserve care, not torture. And taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund cruelty behind closed doors.

Sign now to say: no more breeding baby rabbits to die.

Photo: WAN