Forced swim test update from Bristol SU
In November 2024, the student body passed a motion at the Student Council calling for an end to the University of Bristol conducting forced swim tests on animals.
This article has been put together as part of the mandated action for the “SU Officers to ensure that all University of Bristol students are informed about the cruelty involved in the forced swim test.”
You can view the full motion here.
What is the Forced Swim Test?
The forced swim test is an experiment in which rats or mice are placed into a water-filled container with no means of escape. The rodents try to escape, diving to the bottom or scratching at the sides before floating stationary or swimming. The animal is observed during the full duration of the swim test which is restricted in time to five or six minutes.
In one publication, Bristol researchers describe the forced swimming experience as “an anxiogenic life-threatening situation for the animal as evidenced by vigorous attempts to escape from the container.”
At the end of the study, the animals are killed using a legally approved method. Typically, this has been done via anesthesia then decapitation so that tissues and/or blood can be collected for scientific analysis as part of the research.
The forced swim test has been conducted at the University of Bristol since 2008 as a model to study the neurobiology of stress.
The forced swim test has been under scrutiny as many scientists and other groups have challenged its validity. It has also been criticised for its negative effect on animal welfare.
An independent report by the Animals in Science Committee (which advises the Government on the use of animals in science) found that the forced swim test is not valid as a model of depression and is limited in its use to test antidepressants. Bristol does not use forced swimming in any of these contexts. However, they found it valid in research into stress, provided that those seeking to use the test to study stress are required to explain how rodents’ response to forced swimming is “naturalistically relevant” to humans.
What are we doing about it?
Katie Poyner, Bristol SU’s Union Affairs Officer, said;
"As the Union Affairs Officer, I work alongside the other six elected officers to ensure student voices are heard and acted on. Lucy and I have taken steps to implement this motion, which was voted on by students and passed at Student Council, by informing students via email about the cruelty of the forced swim test. We will also raise this motion as a talking point at Senate, the University’s governing body for teaching and research. We know how important this issue is for both staff and students.”
Speaking to SU, Agnes Sales, Equality and Access Officer from Bristol Veg Soc, who proposed the motion at the student council in November, said:
"Our University is one of the last in the country that greenlights the torture of sensitive mice and rats with the forced swim test. The test is shunned by most other universities, funding bodies, pharmaceutical companies, many public figures, including our Member of Parliament, and now the University’s student body. Over 60,000 members of the public have written to the Vice Chancellor about this issue, and the Home Office’s policy is to “completely eliminate” the test in the “near future”. The university must align itself with the above stakeholders and drop the test now."
A University of Bristol spokesperson said:
“We recognise there are differing views about the use of animals in research, including some concerns around whether it is ethical. Where possible we rely on non-animal methods, but when these are not suitable to address scientific gaps in knowledge, we use animals to improve our understanding of health and disease - this includes neuroscience, and diseases associated with mental health.
“Increasing our understanding of this is important because stress is known to contribute to the development of major depression and many other illnesses. How we respond and adapt to stressful events in our lives is crucial for the development of new treatments for stress-related disorders. We do not use forced swimming procedures at Bristol to model depression or to screen antidepressants and no mice or rats have ever drowned or been swum to exhaustion.”
“We are committed to open and ongoing dialogue about how and why animals are used in research. Details relating to the numbers of animals used annually and case studies illustrating the types of research undertaken are provided on the University’s website. We also keep up to date with the latest thinking on all aspects of research using animals (including advances in welfare) and have robust and thorough ethical review processes in place for every project.”
Further Information:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have an active campaign against the Forced Swim Test at Bristol. Further information can be found on their website.
Further information about using animals in research can be found on the understanding animal research website.
If you are interested in learning more about the campaign VegSoc are running, email Agnes at mailto:ml23810@bristol.ac.uk or joining and introducing yourself to the WhatsApp group using this link.
