More unnecessary animal testing

So, I was just reading a book about goal setting and everything was just fine.  The book is deeply rooted in scientific evidence, but I had no clue how this evidence came to be.  I am just trying to do my best in life and make some improvements for myself, so how is it I keep coming across stuff like this!  I AM a card carrying PETA member, but I am not a crazy, insane, in-your-face activist like many of you might picture.

I had to take a break from the book and rethink things when I came across a paragraph about shocking dogs in cages at a Pennsylvania University.  Apparently the "scientists" are shocking the dogs repeatedly to determine at what point they will give up trying to get out of their cages.  They are trying to determine the difference between a dog that never gives up and ones that do and the length of time it takes in the ones that do.

I ask you, how could this EVER be ok?  How can anyone do this?  I understand the some great and some not-so-great advances medical science has delivered.  But, can someone please explain this one to me?