More Than 100 Scientific Experts Join PETA India’s Push to Ban Cruel Forced Swim Test on Animals 

For Immediate Release:

24 November 2025

Contact: 

Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected]   

Anushka Yadav; [email protected] 

Delhi – After considering overwhelming evidence of the scientific invalidity and cruelty of the forced swim test, more than 100 experts in medicine, pharmacy, academia and veterinary science have signed a petition urging a ban on the worthless and abusive test on animals. In August, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India (PETA India) submitted this petition to the Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA), a statutory body which operates under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. 

The copy of the petition is available upon request.

In the forced swim test, mice, hamsters, and other small animals are dosed with test substances, placed in inescapable beakers filled with water, and made to swim to keep from drowning—purportedly to shed light on human depression. The test has been heavily criticized by scientists who argue that floating is not a sign of depression or despair, but rather an indicator that the animals are simply saving energy and adapting to a new environment. Research suggests the test may even be less reliable than a coin toss to determine the effectiveness of antidepressant medications. 

“Forcing tiny, terror-stricken individuals to swim for their lives is utterly cruel and does nothing to help humans with depression,” says Dr. Anjana Aggarwal, PETA India’s Scientist and Research Policy Advisor. “With support from more than 100 Indian scientific experts, PETA India is calling on the CCSEA to join other regulatory bodies worldwide and ban this indefensible junk science.”  

Earlier this year, after receiving a scientific critique from PETA India detailing the forced swim test, the Pharmacy Council of India directed all agencies under its purview to review and take necessary action on the continued use of the widely debunked experiment. Now, in significant development, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), after due consultation with its institutes, has also written to the CCSEA asking it to take action on PETA’s request, further strengthening the call for a nationwide ban. The test is fully banned in New South Wales and has been restricted by the UK Home Office. Many of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, GSK, and Johnson & Johnson, and major research universities like Kings College London and the University of Adelaide, have pledged not to permit, conduct, or fund the forced swim test after hearing from PETA entities. 

PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow PETA India on X, Facebook, or Instagram. 

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