More than 100,000 petition signatures landed outside the Wayne State University president’s office today, as protesters tried to turn a long-running fight over dog experiments on the Midtown campus into something university leadership could not ignore. Organizers say the signatures, gathered over roughly 18 to 24 months, were dropped at the president’s suite after a campus demonstration, and that when they tried to deliver the stack in person, they were told the president was not on campus.
Petitions Placed At President’s Office
According to MLive, protesters physically stacked the petitions outside the office, then set black, dog-tag style plaques on top of the pile that listed ID numbers and dates. The delivery, led by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, drew signatures from across the country and, organizers say, included medical professionals, students and local residents. Protest leaders told reporters they intentionally timed the handoff to coincide with a leadership transition and looming federal funding decisions.
What Protesters Say The Tests Involve
Campaigners, citing public records, describe the experiments as highly invasive: opening the dogs’ chest cavities in surgery, implanting multiple devices and catheters, running wires under the skin, and forcing the animals to run on treadmills while implanted devices are used to drive up their heart rates, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Critics say the research program dates back to the early 1990s, that National Institutes of Health funding over the years totals roughly the mid-teens of millions of dollars, and that hundreds of dogs have died, a tally they say is backed by reporting and official records. Organizers argue that newer, human-focused research tools make continued canine experiments unnecessary.
University Pushes Back
Wayne State has responded that the work is federally approved, focused on cardiovascular disease and conducted under strict oversight, and has told local media the university is committed to the ethical use of animals in research. In a statement to FOX 2 Detroit, officials pointed out that the program holds accreditation from AAALAC International and that a recent inspection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was favorable. The university says the studies are aimed at finding new ways to treat congestive heart failure and hypertension.
Lawmakers, A Grant Clock And Queenie’s Law
Protesters made their move as a key National Institutes of Health grant tied to the research is scheduled to expire at the end of March, giving them a tight window to try to sway funders and campus leadership, MLive reported. At the same time, state lawmakers have advanced measures nicknamed “Queenie’s Law,” including proposals cited in coverage of the state-level push, that would prohibit painful experiments on dogs at publicly funded institutions, according to reporting by the Metro Times. The petition drop was aimed squarely at Wayne State’s new president, Richard Bierschbach, who was formally appointed the university’s 14th president on Feb. 24, 2026, as reported by CBS Detroit, with organizers saying they hoped he would break from past practice.
What Organizers Say Comes Next
Organizers told reporters they plan to keep lobbying elected officials and federal funders while tracking the grant deadline, arguing that the petition delivery is meant to dial up public and legislative pressure on Wayne State, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The university, for its part, says it adheres to federal and institutional rules governing animal research. For now, both critics and campus officials acknowledge that the clash over the dog experiments is likely to continue into the spring as funding decisions and potential new legislation move forward.
.jpg){kind=link}