World
January 15, 2025 20:28
catanzaro, italy - An investigation reveals horrifying animal abuse at a laboratory in the University of Catanzaro, Italy, leading to arrests of several individuals including professors and top officials.
During experiments at a laboratory in the University of Catanzaro, in the southern Italian region of Calabria, animals were subjected to cruel torture and killing.
Eleven people have been arrested and the involvement of 21 others is being investigated. Among the suspects are professors, university officials, scientific researchers - especially veterinarians, and employees of local provincial health centers.
Even the former rector of the university has been arrested and is currently under house arrest pending trial. The suspects face charges of criminal conspiracy, corruption, forgery, defrauding the state, and animal abuse and killing.
The university's two scientific laboratories, used for animal experiments for research purposes, have been temporarily shut down. A sum of over 23,000 euros was seized from two suspects, believed to be proceeds from the fraud.
The involvement of the president of the Italian Federation of Cardiology is also under scrutiny. He led a research project on 'vascular damage model in rats for the study of coronary restenosis in chronic peripheral arterial disease.' He is accused of animal abuse.
The university chambers were described as horror chambers. 'The suppression procedures were not always respected,' said a witness with a sense of euphemism. 'Personally, I would only proceed to euthanasia if I can anesthetize the animal and kill it according to the prescribed procedures. However, I have also seen cases of decapitation of animals without anesthesia. This caused the other rats to smell the blood from the decapitation and become irritated.'
The witness considered this a problem for science. 'When other animals become agitated, they not only become uncontrollable, but also produce cortisone. This affects the test results.' The witness also recalled being told upon arrival that an animal had been thrown against the wall to be euthanized. Another witness described the decapitation process as quite bloody, with the animals still being alive at that moment.
Italian parliament member Michela Vittoria Brambilla, a long-time advocate for animal protection, thanked the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Guardia di Finanza police force for 'opening the lid on this block full of horrors.' Brambilla also believes that the detainees are guilty of other offenses such as fraud, corruption, and favoritism.