Article By: Timothy Connick, Contributing Writer

Alien abductions aren’t real… right? For many animals, this is their reality. Every year, South Alabama is home to a stop on the tour of animal rights group PETA’s Abduction tour. 

The Animal Rights Alliance, led by Professor Heather Dail, collaborated with peta2, PETA’s outreach division that specializes in educating younger audiences, to host a stop on the tour for a second year. The tour seeks to provide information to college students about some of the more harmful practices animals go through in captivity at research laboratories. The tour specifically targets college campuses, as many have on-site laboratories that participate in keeping animals in captivity. 

The tour’s main feature is its virtual reality experience. Volunteers are encouraged to sit in a seat–which moves during the experience–and watch a film shot with a virtual reality camera. The movie at times features disturbing images of humans being abducted by aliens and being subjected to brutal tests and experiments.

 “Many of the campuses we have visited have labs that have received numerous federal animal welfare violations. We ask students to take action in signing our petition and educating themselves,” said Kaitlyn Damm, the tour’s lead organizer. The goal of the project is to raise awareness and encourage students to speak out against the cruel treatment of animals in laboratory environments. It also aims to educate students who may pursue majors involving laboratory research to be proactive in understanding what these animals go through in captivity.

 Gabby Bond, a freshman Chemistry major, was hesitant to experience the film at first. “I didn’t expect it to be as blatantly graphic as it was,” she said. “But I learned, especially in the field I’m going into, there’s a lot of animal testing being done and the fact that it puts you in the perspective of one of the animals being tested on makes me want to fight for less animal testing. I would say it was a pretty effective strategy.” To sign peta2’s petition to stop laboratory testing on animals or learn more about their mission, visit their website at peta2.com.