The Deadly Rabbit Pregnancy Test

In the 1930s, pregnancy tests were fatal for rabbits. Doctors would inject a woman’s urine into a rabbit, and if the animal developed specific ovarian changes, it confirmed a pregnancy.

The test became famous for its accuracy but required the dissection of the animal to inspect its ovaries. While the rabbits themselves were just biological indicators, the process was slow and required a new animal for every single test. Thankfully, these primitive methods were phased out once more modern hormone-detection tests became available. It remains a strange chapter in medical history where animals were used as the primary laboratory tool for diagnostic testing.