Here’s a roundup of the latest, biggest news stories related to animal research—all the recent media coverage you need to know right now to be the most effective activist for animals in labs.
Ridglan Farms’ Sales Appear to Be Crashing
Rise for Animals, 1/27/2026
Newly obtained records show Ridglan Farms’ interstate dog sales are crashing, with demand falling sharply even before a court-ordered Special Prosecutor intervened. See what we and The Marty Project just uncovered: 📰 Full Story →
Progress in the Fight Against Animal Testing for Sunscreens
Rise for Animals, 1/29/2026
In a quiet but significant win for animals in labs, key provisions from the SAFE Sunscreen Standards Act are becoming law. 📰 Full Story →
E.P.A. Promises a Ban on Animal Testing by 2035
Lisa Friedman, The New York Times, 1/22/2026
“The Environmental Protection Agency will stop using rabbits, mice, rats and other mammals to test the toxicity of chemicals by 2035, the agency said Thursday . . . Lee Zeldin, the E.P.A. administrator, announced the new policy and said it revives an effort begun during President Trump’s first term. While some testing will still be required to meet legal obligations about the safety of chemicals, Mr. Zeldin said the agency has been working to adopt methods that do not involve animals.”
“During President Trump’s first term, the E.P.A. moved to end testing on mammals by 2035, with an interim goal of ending it by 2025. That timeline was dropped during the Biden administration….” 📰 Full Story →
WAN Exclusive: NIH Sends $826K More To Fund Cruel Puppy Experiments At UPenn….
World Animal News, 1/26/2026
“An ongoing investigation by the watchdog group White Coat Waste (WCW) has uncovered that on January 12, 2026, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) quietly awarded another $826,381 to a controversial dog lab at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). The funding was issued as part of a continuing grant that has remained active since 1986, further extending a taxpayer-funded program that has already cost the public more than $46 million, according to WCW.”
“Over the years, WCW has revealed that UPenn has continued to operate what amounts to a massive, federally funded puppy mill for nearly half a century. Since the 1970s, the university has bred generations of dogs to develop painful, degenerative vision disorders, subjecting them to invasive experiments bankrolled by the NIH. Public records, as well as Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents and videos obtained by WCW show that dogs are deliberately bred to develop retinal diseases that progressively rob them of their sight. Once their vision begins to fail, the animals are used in a series of disturbing experiments that include injecting substances directly into their eyes. The dogs are then forced to navigate obstacle courses after prolonged periods of darkness, while researchers record their confusion and distress. In addition, during the horrific experiments, some dogs have their eyes surgically removed while still alive.” 📰 Full Story →
Kid governor Jade Adams wanted New Hampshire to ban animal testing. She might get her wish.
Charlotte Matherly, Concord Monitor, 1/26/2026
“When it was time for [Jade Adams’] fifth-grade class at the Wells Memorial School in Harrisville to explore running for New Hampshire’s kid governor in 2024, Jade knew immediately what her platform would be: Advocate for New Hampshire to outlaw animal testing.”
“Her campaign, complete with a three-pronged education and advocacy plan, was a winning one. Jade has spent the past year as kid governor, making speeches, visiting schools and organizing a letter campaign to Gov. Kelly Ayotte in hopes that New Hampshire will become the 13th state to ban animal testing. Lawmakers are taking steps to do just that. A small bipartisan group filed legislation this month to prohibit testing facilities in the state from using animals when alternative methods are available. It targets cosmetics, which the industry has long tested for allergies and efficacy on animals, while making an exception for biomedical research . . . While Jade would eventually like to see her state enact a complete ban on the practice, she said the bill on the table is ‘definitely a step in the right direction.’” 📰 Full Story →
Ontario Urged to Investigate Disturbing Dog Experiments at Nucro-Technics
Animal Alliance of Canada, Globenewswire, 1/27/2026
“Animal Alliance of Canada is calling on the Ontario government and the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) to urgently investigate disturbing evidence of cruelty toward dogs used in laboratory research at Nucro-Technics—one of Canada’s largest contract research facilities, located in Scarborough, Ontario. The call follows the release of undercover film footage by Last Chance for Animals and reporting by the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB), which revealed the treatment of beagles used in testing at Nucro-Technics’ facility. The footage documents dogs collapsing, crying out in distress, vomiting, and struggling during invasive procedures, as well as serious failures in animal handling and euthanasia protocols.”
“‘This footage confirms what we have known for decades,’ said Kira Berkeley, Advocacy Manager, Animal Alliance of Canada. ‘When it comes to dogs used in research, the system the industry calls “highly regulated” repeatedly fails to prevent serious suffering. Oversight bodies had multiple opportunities to intervene here — and did not.’” 📰 Full Story →
Halal and vegan cosmetics converge to meet ethical beauty demands
Ela Jade Ünal, personal care insights, 1/27/2026
“Maryam Cosmetics, a US-based halal lipstick brand . . . is one of many halal cosmetics companies that are expanding their certification to include vegan and cruelty-free products. Numerous brands in the personal care industry are choosing to converge halal and ethical beauty certifications into their brand strategies.”
“‘Halal, vegan, and cruelty-free cosmetics are all built around the idea of making products that are ethical, safe, and responsibly produced. They focus on where ingredients come from, how they are processed, and whether harm is caused in the process,’ . . . ‘The key overlap is that all three aim to give consumers confidence that the product aligns with strong ethical values….” 📰 Full Story →
“SENTIENT”
Sara Clements, Next Best Picture, 1/27/2026
“‘I’ve always liked Roger Ebert’s idea that films are like a machine for generating empathy,’ Director Tony Jones states . . . In ‘Sentient,’ co-written by Jones and Rachel Grierson-Johns, this machine is fueled by a blend of grief and clinical inquiry. The film opens with a sound that bypasses the intellect to strike the marrow: the high-pitched crying of monkeys packed into tiny cages in the back of a truck. It is a calculated, bruising start that signals this will not be an easy viewing experience. Instead, it is an invitation to witness a hidden ecosystem where the trauma of the captive is inextricably linked to the moral injury of the captor.”
“In asking whether our perceived need for these experiments justifies the erasure of another being’s autonomy, Jones doesn’t just critique a laboratory practice; he demands a reckoning within the very definition of human progress and an acknowledgment that there is no difference between us and the primates encaged.” 📰 Full Story →
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