Ghostbusters Star Ernie Hudson Asks Alma Mater to End Dog Experiments After Seeing “Disturbing” Whistleblower Images

DETROIT, Mich.—Ghostbusters actor and Wayne State University graduate Ernie Hudson today called on his alma mater to end its controversial dog experiments after seeing “disturbing” images from the breeding facility that supplies animals to the school. In a letter to Wayne State President Kimberly Andrews Espy, Hudson wrote he was “shocked” to learn of the “painful, deadly heart failure experiments” conducted on dogs at the university but realized “the cruelty goes even deeper” after seeing the new images. He described long rows of elevated cages holding beagles, feces piled underneath. He also references “a dead dog shoved into a metal bin, his head twisted sideways, his brown coat soaked with what appears to be mud or feces.”

An employee of Marshall BioResources, a factory farm in western New York where more than 18,000 adult dogs and puppies are caged, provided the photos and videos to the U.K.-based group The Camp Beagle, which shared them with the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Public records obtained by the Physicians Committee from Wayne State show the university purchased at least 86 dogs from Marshall between 2014 and March 2023. The dog experiments began in 1991 and involve performing multiple invasive surgeries, implanting devices in the animals’ arteries and hearts, and running the dogs on treadmills until their bodies give out or they die—often due to severe internal bleeding. Records obtained earlier this year reveal that Wayne State has started feeding the dogs a “high fat diet” to “induce metabolic syndrome,” which can increase risk of strokes.

“These dead-end dog experiments haven’t helped a single patient,” said Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy for the Physicians Committee. “And now we know Wayne State is wasting taxpayer money to prop up a factory farm that cares just as little about public health and animal welfare.”

The experiments at Wayne State have spurred the introduction of two pending state bills that would outlaw painful dog experiments at public institutions in Michigan. Rep. Matt Koleszar introduced HB 4849 in 2023, and Sen. Paul Wojno introduced SB 1019 in September. Actor and comedian Lily Tomlin, another Wayne State alum, has also spoken out against the experiments and supported the legislation.

Since 1991, Wayne State has received $17 million in public funds for the experiments and related projects, which have been criticized by experts who conduct heart failure studies with human patients. In contrast, human-relevant methods like trials involving patients, population studies, and the use of donated human hearts are producing results. In 2015, the Texas Heart Institute, which is dedicated solely to addressing cardiovascular disease, stopped using dogs altogether.

To see Hudson’s letter, the photos, or the videos, or to interview Ryan Merkley, please contact Reina Pohl at 202-527-7326 or rpohl [at] pcrm.org (rpohl[at]pcrm[dot]org).