Left to right: Brandon Barnes, Zach Blair, Tim McIlrath, Joe Principe
The University of Colorado–Boulder (CU-Boulder) states that its institutional vision includes “[b]uilding a 21st century learning environment.” As far as peta2 is concerned, torturing animals in classroom experiments is archaic and anything but indicative of a state-of-the-art institution.
In cruel classroom experiments at CU-Boulder:
- Students cut off frogs’ heads and experiment on the animals’ muscles, skin, and nerves.
- Terrified rats are forced to swim in water mazes.
- Live rats are cut open in order to apply drugs to their exposed, beating hearts.
Cruelty-free, non-animal teaching methods are available and have been shown to teach students as well as or better than animal-based lessons. This kind of archaic treatment of animals in the name of “science” cannot continue, and no one agrees more than CU-Boulder alumni and Rise Against drummer Brandon Barnes, which is why he sent off the following letter to the Office of the Chancellor at CU-Boulder on behalf of peta2 and animals everywhere:
After spending the last 14 years playing drums in the band Rise Against, whose primary messages are about fighting injustice, I feel compelled to weigh in on this important issue.
Rise Against is a band known for its commitment to fighting injustices—against humans and animals alike. A longtime animal activist, Brandon knows that to be truly forward-thinking, institutions such as CU-Boulder need to extend their ideals of higher education to include compassion and respect for all animals and to put an end to these archaic classroom experiments.
Join Rise Against, and help stop cruel animal tests at CU-Boulder!
