Wallabies used in brain and vision experiments

Help us to tell the Australian Research Council to stop funding the use of wallabies in cruel and scientifically obsolete brain and vision experiments. Please share to Twitter and sign the petition below. Tammar wallabies have been used in brain and vision experiments at the National Vision Research Institute in Melbourne. According to a 2022 publication 6 tammar wallabies, bred specifically for research were used in vision experiments. The University of Melbourne’s ethics committee approved the experiment.

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Help HRA to tell the Australian Research Council to STOP funding the use of #wallabies in cruel and scientifically obsolete #brain and #vision experiments! Please sign and share our letter via @animalfreesci https://animalfreescienceadvocacy.org.au/wallabies-used-in-brain-and-vision-experiments/
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The experiment involved holding the wallaby’s head in a stereotaxic frame secured by ear bars, performing a craniotomy (making a hole in the skull) and exposing the cortex with a stainless-steel chamber affixed to the skull. Electrophysiology recordings of the brain were taken whilst the animals were anaesthetised and “refractive errors were measured using retinoscopy and corrected with spherical lenses placed in front of the eyes to focus the stimuli on the retina”.

This type of research is known as ‘basic research’. It provides little or no benefit to human health and is certainly of no benefit to the wallabies.

This research was funded through the Australian government’s Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function by way of grant number CE140100007. It is not only cruel but a waste of resources and animal lives.

Research on Australia’s wildlife is often thought to be justifiable for conservation benefits but this experiment is in no way of benefit to wildlife or humans. It is a travesty of science. You can help HRA in a variety of ways.

TAKE ACTION: Sending the following email to the CEO of the Australian Research Council, Ms Judi Zielke