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.
Animal Researchers Plan for Expansion, New Victims by 2050
Rise for Animals, 5/13/2026
The animal research industry wants us to accept its disturbing vision for the future: new animal victims, more experimentation, the same unimaginable suffering—all repackaged as progress.
We say? No way. 📰 Full Story →
FDA Modernization Act 3.0 Advances in U.S. House Health Committee
Animal Wellness Action, 5/14/2026
“ . . . Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy applauded the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee for advancing yesterday afternoon the FDA Modernization Act 3.0, H.R. 2821. This bipartisan legislation, with an even number of Republicans and Democrats as co-sponsors, ensure [sic] that FDA regulations and implementation fully align with the landmark FDA Modernization Act 2.0 enacted by Congress in 2022 to eliminate an animal-testing mandate for experimental drugs. The bill, approved unanimously, now heads to the full House Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration next week.” 📰 Full Story →
⚠️ Tell your members of Congress to support the FDA Modernization Act 3.0! Send your letter here.
Animal rights group files federal complaint against UC Davis monkey injuries
Melissa Joseph, KCRA 3, 5/7/2026
“An animal rights group has filed a federal complaint against UC Davis, alleging violations of animal welfare laws at the California National Primate Research Center. The group, Stop Animal Exploitation Now, filed the complaint demanding a full investigation into the center, claiming the university failed two USDA inspections in the past year regarding its handling of macaques.”
“A previous inspection revealed that a monkey was burned by an overheated injection. During a March 4 inspection, USDA inspectors discovered that several fights between monkeys were potentially caused by human error. . . . The report also claimed the center used three enclosures that were too small for the monkeys they housed.” 📰 Full Story →
Wisconsin advocates, Pocan push animal testing reforms after Ridglan Farms violations
Meredith Hackler, 58 News Milwaukee, 5/8/2026
“In the wake of the Ridglan Farm beagles’ release, attention has turned to preventing similar cases in the future. Congressman Mark Pocan is pushing for tougher federal standards for animal testing and breeding facilities, while advocates in Wisconsin are urging state lawmakers to strengthen animal testing laws.”
“Pocan successfully passed an amendment in the House Appropriations Committee targeting Ridglan Farms. The facility faces more than 300 state-level animal welfare violations. However, when the USDA visited the facility a few months later, the agency gave it a passing grade, seemingly contradicting what state officials found. ‘The amendment that we had done in a bipartisan way is an amendment that essentially said if state does something like this and goes after the license that the federal government immediately USDA has to look at it to try to remove it’s [sic] licensure as well because otherwise you could allow it to do some things that are clearly not in the publics [sic] best interest,’ Congressman Mark Pocan, D-Madison, said.”
“At the state level, earlier this year Dane4Dogs urged lawmakers to pass the Beagle Freedom Bill. The bill would have required labs or breeders to adopt dogs out after they were done using them. . . . The bill passed out of the Assembly and a Senate committee but died on the Senate floor.” 📰 Full Story →
Citizen Complaint Raises Questions About Research Integrity at OHSU
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5/8/2026
“The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine [PCRM] is calling attention to a citizen complaint filed with the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Integrity Office that alleges concerning research practices involving OHSU, its primate experimentation center, and its relationship with a pharmaceutical company attempting to market an unproven drug. The complaint calls for an investigation into OHSU’s association with CytoDyn and the investigational drug leronlimab, citing issues with research standards, financial relationships, and disclosure practices.”
“‘The primate center has been criticized for killing baby monkeys, dosing pregnant monkeys with alcohol and drugs, and failing to use better scientific methods,’ said Janine McCarthy, MPH, director of research policy at the [PCRM]. ‘This complaint raises a whole new set of concerns, related to questionable financial relationships.’ ‘The fact that the former CytoDyn CEO who was sentenced to prison for fraud is a co-author on a half-dozen research OHSU publications raises obvious questions,’ said Neal Barnard, MD, president of the [PCRM]. ‘Enough is enough.’”
“The complaint, filed by an Oregon resident on April 30, requests an investigation into OHSU’s primate experiments using CytoDyn’s investigational drug. Publicly available federal records indicate CytoDyn and its former leadership have faced legal actions related to misleading statements made to investors about the progress of developing a treatment for HIV.” 📰 Full Story →
Lawmakers push to end taxpayer funded animal testing after beagle rescue
Tommy Gallagher, 2 WGRZ, 5/9/2026
“As 1,500 beagles rescued from the Ridglan Farms breeding facility in Wisconsin continue to be relocated, including some brought to Western New York, lawmakers are pushing for stronger government action to end invasive animal testing. U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy said he is urging federal officials to stop taxpayer funding for research involving dogs and cats bred for experimentation.”
“Langworthy, who represents part of Western New York, said he has spoken with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about ending federal support for invasive research involving dogs and cats. He said he wants to ensure taxpayer dollars are no longer used to support invasive testing on dogs bred solely for experimentation.”
“‘’We need to push until we get, finally, a law that says that you should not be doing medical testing or dangerous testing on cats and dogs in this country. It’s a matter of total cruelty,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t need to happen, and to see those beagles in those inhumane conditions — 2,000 of them in one facility was gross — people had to take matters into their own hands. These weren’t radical animal activists. These were people that just saw a wrong and they took a step to right it. Now we need to follow through with public policy.’” 📰 Full Story →
Wyoming’s Kindness Ranch To Rescue 70 Cats And Dogs From Colorado Research Lab
Jen Kocher, Cowboy State Daily, 5/10/2026
“This week, [Kindness Ranch is] heading to Colorado to bring back 70 beagles and cats from a facility that once did pharmaceutical and flea and tick testing but has since shut its doors.”
“The Colorado clinic owner told [John Ramer, executive director of the Kindness Ranch] that it was no longer financially feasible to use beagles and cats, and anecdotally, Ramer is hearing this from other testing facilities. Part of it stems from increased public outcry about the use of animals and testing in general, as well as increased scrutiny of test beagle breeding facilities that led to the shutdown of two of the county’s biggest.” 📰 Full Story →
PETA Urges Pentagon to Stop Foreign Animal Testing Costing $21M Since 2019
Nick Mordowanec, Military.com, 5/11/2026
“[PETA] is calling on the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to stop spending millions of U.S. taxpayers dollars on animal experiments in foreign countries.”
“‘We recently uncovered that the Pentagon has been quietly pouring tens of millions of taxpayer dollars into these cruel and wasteful animal experiments that are being conducted in foreign laboratories where public oversight is limited and accountability is weak,” [Shalin Galin, vice president of international laboratory methods at PETA] said. He and PETA cite obtained records, shared with Military.com, showing that more than $21 million has been sent overseas by the Pentagon since 2019 to fund experiments that will burn rats, paralyze pigs, infect animals with bacteria, blind them, damage their brains, and subject them to extreme trauma.”
“‘All of this fails to advance human health or military readiness, which at the end of the day, that’s what any research funded by the Pentagon should be addressing, and these animal experiments are not meeting that goal,’ Gala said.” 📰 Full Story →
State, local officials investigate possible contamination from Ridglan manure trench
Chris Rickert, Wisconsin State Journal, 5/12/2026
“State and local officials are looking into whether a manure-filled trench constructed by a town of Blue Mounds dog breeder might have contaminated private wells in the area. Ridglan Farms put in the trench to discourage animal-rights activists from breaking into the facility on April 18 to ‘rescue’ what were then some 1,900 beagles being held there.”
“In a statement Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson with the Department of Natural Resources said the agency is coordinating with Dane County Land and Water Resources ‘to investigate and respond to the placement of manure into excavated trenches at Ridglan Farms.’ ‘To assess immediate public health risk to groundwater, the department sampled three private wells on site and confirmed the absence of coliform bacteria,’ the spokesperson said. The statement went on to say that ‘out of an abundance of caution,’ the DNR was also working with the city-county public health department, known as Public Health Madison and Dane County, which ‘plans to offer testing to nearby, downgradient well owners.’”
“Dane County on April 16 issued Ridglan a ticket for installing the trench without the proper permit. An initial hearing in that case is set for May 27, according to online court records, or the company could choose to pay the $452.50 citation.” 📰 Full Story →
Lush Cosmetics, Animal Alliance launch campaign against use of dogs and cats in research
Mario Toneguzzi, Retail Insider, 5/14/2026
“Lush Cosmetics and Animal Alliance of Canada have launched a national campaign calling for stronger legislation to prohibit the use of dogs and cats in research and testing in Canada. The campaign, called Paws Off Our Pets, includes public advocacy efforts, fundraising initiatives and a push for provincial legislation aimed at protecting companion animals from being used in experiments. The organizations say Canada remains the only G7 country without federal legislation governing the use of animals in science.”
“The campaign launch comes as debate continues in Ontario over Bill 75, legislation introduced in November 2025 that would prohibit invasive medical research on dogs and cats. Animal Alliance of Canada said it is seeking amendments to strengthen the proposed law.” 📰 Full Story →
Madrid Animal-Testing Case Tests EU Resolve
Newsdesk, The European Times, 5/14/2026
“A criminal trial in Madrid over alleged animal mistreatment at the Vivotecnia testing laboratory has revived a wider European question: how quickly can the EU move from promises on animal welfare to enforceable change? The case, based on undercover footage first made public in 2021, concerns two technicians who deny wrongdoing. But for animal-protection groups, the hearings have become a test of whether Europe’s rules on laboratory animals are strong enough, transparent enough and ambitious enough to match public expectations.” 📰 Full Story →
CDC plans to transfer monkeys to nonprofit’s sanctuary as it seeks to reduce animal testing
Ed Silverman, STAT, 5/14/2026
“As part of efforts to phase out the use of monkeys in research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intends to transfer more than 160 macaques to Born Free USA, a nonprofit that runs a large primate sanctuary in Texas.”
“‘The overall objective is to ensure the seamless and humane transfer of all CDC animals into naturalistic and enriched environments that support their physical and behavioral health, within facilities that are compliant with standards set by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, the notice states. . . . The notice appears six months after the CDC signaled its intent to halt the use of monkeys in research, an issue that has been embraced by the Trump administration.” 📰 Full Story →
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