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.
Researchers Force Animals to “Butt Breathe”
Rise for Animals, 10/28/2026
Researchers cloak it in clinical language, of course: “enteral ventilation via anus (EVA)”, a system designed to push oxygen through the rectum instead of the lungs. Industry groups sanitize it further, claiming scientists merely “found that the animals can breathe through their anus in extreme situations.”
But that phrasing obscures what actually happened in these experiments—and what it took to produce that “finding.”
And all for what? Even the researchers acknowledge they do not fully understand the biological mechanisms involved. Despite the invasive procedures, the tremendous suffering, and the lives taken, the fundamental question remains unsolved. 📰 Full Story →
PA Animal Protection Caucus celebrates “Beagle Bill” signature into law
Animal Protection Caucus, PA House of Representatives, 10/23/2026
“State Rep. Melissa Shusterman, D-Chester, founder and co-chair of the PA Animal Protection Caucus, is proud to announce that Senate Bill 381 has been signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro. . . . The legislation, known as the Beagle Bill . . . has been a priority of the Animal Protection Caucus for many years.”
“The new law will: • Grant dogs and cats in research testing facilities an opportunity to be adopted into a loving home after the experiments are over. • Prohibit the sale of cosmetics that have been newly tested on animals. • Require animal testing facilities to publish a link to the [USDA] Animal Care public search tool in a conspicuous spot on their website. . . . • Prevent the expenditure of state funds for dogs or cat experiments unless the facilities are complying with federal research oversight provisions….”
“The bill which was passed unanimously by both the state House and Senate was signed this week and is now Act 92 of 2026.” 📰 Full Story →
Police spend £800k on protests at dog-breeding site
Kian Boyle, BBC, 10/24/2026
“A police force has spent about £800,000 policing planned protests over the last five years outside a facility that breeds dogs for laboratory research. Activists began demonstrating outside MBR Acres in Wyton, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, in 2021 to demand that the site be closed and the dogs inside be released. Cambridgeshire Constabulary said its policing of planned protests at the facility was ‘impartial and proportionate’.”
“Marshall Bio Resources (MBR), which runs the site, said it was ‘disappointed’ to see the amount of money spent policing the protests. A spokesperson for the protesters described the police response as ‘completely disproportionate to the nature of the protests’.”
“Cambridgeshire Police confirmed with the BBC there was also a ‘small police presence’ every time the dogs were transported from the site to laboratories for testing, which is not included in the estimated costs.” 📰 Full Story →
More than one million animal experiments in Scotland since 2021
Bill Briggs, The Ferret, 10/24/2026
“More than one million tests have been conducted on animals in Scotland since 2021, including experiments on dogs and monkeys, and the breeding of genetically altered creatures, says a new report.”
“Across the UK there were 2.54 million tests in 2025, OneKind’s report says. Horses, ferrets, sheep, cats, bats and birds have also been used in research. In Scotland there were 1,142,363 tests on animals conducted between 2021 and 2025, with 358,864 procedures last year. Of those, 64 per cent were on mice, 13 per cent on zebrafish, and eight per cent on rats. Other animals used included 721 beagle dogs and 548 cynomolgus monkeys.”
“There were 254,893 tests conducted at Scottish universities in 2025, according to OneKind. . . . Private companies also conduct tests on animals in Scotland.” 📰 Full Story →
Veterinary Professor reacts to undercover laboratory footage
Animal Aid, 10/26/2026
“In 2026, Animal Aid partnered with Animals International to release historic, covert footage from inside licensed UK testing facilities – the first footage of its kind to emerge in over a decade. The exposé revealed dogs forced to inhale chemicals through masks strapped to their faces, primates locked into head-restraint devices, pregnant rabbits infused with toxins, and pigs left with raw, open wounds cut into their backs. We sat down and interviewed Andrew Knight, Veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare, to assess these shocking findings and obtain his expert opinion.”
“‘This is medieval. This isn’t what modern science should look like at all. . . . This has been called a necessary evil, and it’s certainly evil, but it’s definitely not necessary. Sadly, very many studies over quite some decades have now established really clearly that the actual usefulness of this research in predicting key outcomes such as human toxicity and the effectiveness of potential drugs in human patients is really low.’”
“‘ . . . the animal research community has been attacking its critics for being unscientific, but actually the animal research community has been guilty of doing exactly that themselves by not asking the hard questions about how useful is this research really? How often does it genuinely contribute to meaningful advances in human health care? And what are the reasons why it’s so often been demonstrated to be very inefficient and of such low utility for advancing public health? There are clear and concrete reasons that are evident within these studies and, by and large, unfortunately, they’ve been ignored by the animal research community because the animal research community is being unscientific. They are uncritically assuming that this research is worth the staggering amounts of money that have been poured into it. And they’ve not been willing to ask questions that might challenge their own careers and their own funding. And that’s profoundly unethical. It’s bad for animal welfare, and it’s unscientific.’” 📰 Full Story →
VegNews Report: A World Without Animal Testing Is Closer Than You Think
Charlotte Pointing, VegNews, 10/26/2026
“For many people, the most obvious problem with animal testing, of course, is that it is unethical to animals. An estimated 100 million animals, including rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, and cats, are used in US research and testing each year. During experiments, animals may be infected with diseases, deliberately blinded, force-fed, or burned, among other procedures. Many are euthanized afterward if they do not die during the experiments. Research shows that the belief that this treatment is fundamentally wrong is not a minority view. It is, actually, increasingly mainstream.”
“But . . . using animals in medical research can also be unreliable and even pose a risk to human health. Today, more than 90 percent of drug candidates that appear safe or effective in animal studies ultimately fail during human clinical trials. Herein lies the problem: a human is not a rat, and a guinea pig is not a human. Different species process drugs in different ways. ‘On a fundamental level, we have different biologies, different physiologies, different immune systems,’….”
“The future of research is animal-free, and it’s closer than you think. . . . [Alternative, human-relevant] methods differ, but they share key similarities. Firstly, they don’t require animal mutilation. And secondly? ‘They reflect human biology,’….” 📰 Full Story →
Metformin Fish Behavior Study Retracted Over Falsified Animal Ethics Approval
Mary Langston, Scienmag, 10/27/2026
“PLOS One has retracted a 2018 study that reported environmental concentrations of the diabetes drug metformin altered aggressive behavior in the Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens. The retraction notice . . . states that the paper’s animal research approval was falsified and that no valid ethical authorization ever covered the experiments.”
“A representative of Merrimack College, the institution named in the study, told PLOS that a valid protocol approved by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee does not exist for the experiments reported in the paper. The representative further stated that approval from an external IACUC was never sought.” 📰 Full Story →
Baywatch star: Beagle rescue case brings attention to animal research
Samantha Calderon, Channel3000, 10/27/2026
“Actress and animal rights activist Alexandra Paul says the Ridglan Farms beagle rescue drew attention to dogs bred for research and to the activists facing a court case….”
“‘I really want to go to trial. I want to go to trial because I want to expose the abuse that happened at Ridglan Farms by the owners of Ridglan Farms and all the laws that they broke, and the neglect from authorities,’ Paul said. ‘They all knew that Ridglan Farms was breaking Wisconsin animal cruelty laws. Yet no one went in to rescue the dogs, and that is why we did,’ she said.” 📰 Full Story →
From Saving Beagles to Facing Felonies: Two Michigan Men Caught in Ridglan Farms Rescue Case
J.P. Isbell, Michigan News Source, 10/27/2026
“Princess Peach Hope Grace Dodd and 2114 other former Ridglan Farms laboratory Beagles have a new life, but freedom hasn’t come without a price. Princess Peach has battled infections, damaged paws, dental disease, severe allergies and psychological trauma after spending nearly seven years confined at the Wisconsin facility. Her adoptive mother, Kim-Anne Dodd, says Peach has required extensive veterinary treatment, with medical expenses reportedly reaching $15,000. Dodd also says her veterinarian told her Peach would already be dead if she hadn’t escaped her former life. Now, the people who fought to free dogs like Peach are facing criminal charges, including two Michigan men who could spend years behind bars.”
“Dodd is urging supporters to contact Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and request dismissal of the charges. ‘I understand that laws exist. I understand that actions have consequences,’ she wrote. ‘But I also believe that compassion, mercy, and the circumstances behind those actions MUST matter.’” 📰 Full Story →
Billionaire Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC Backs Plan to Breed 30,000 Lab Monkeys in the US
Harris Williams, Ceoworld Magazine, 10/28/2026
“Joe Lonsdale, the Palantir co-founder and venture investor, is backing one of the most contentious ventures in American biotechnology. His firm, 8VC, has invested $20 million in Safer Human Medicine, a startup that plans to breed about 30,000 macaque monkeys for drug safety testing and biomedical research. The company has raised $28 million in total.”
“ . . . the venture faces two obstacles that its investors cannot easily control. Its flagship facility in Georgia remains tied up in litigation and local opposition. And US regulators are actively reducing the types of primate studies that have historically driven demand. For executives and investors, Safer Human Medicine is a case study in how supply-chain scarcity, regulatory change and ethical controversy can intersect in a single business.”
“ The company also faces questions about its leadership’s history. Harkness was previously chief operating officer of Envigo, a research-animal supplier whose Virginia beagle-breeding facility was shut down in 2022 after federal inspectors documented serious welfare violations. Envigo’s parent company, Inotiv, later pleaded guilty and paid a record $35 million in fines and settlements. Harkness left Envigo in 2022 and was never charged; he has declined to comment on the matter. Opponents of the Georgia facility have cited that history, which raises the reputational stakes for any operational failure.” 📰 Full Story →
Peter Egan petition demands public inquiry into animal experiments
Hayley O’Keeffe, Dogstoday, 10/28/2026
“Campaigners are urging the public to back a petition demanding an independent inquiry into how animal experiments are regulated in Britain. Created by animal welfare campaigner Peter Egan, the parliamentary petition has attracted more than 18,000 signatures, passing the threshold requiring a government response. . . . It calls for scrutiny of regulation under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, arguing that weaknesses in oversight are undermining safeguards for laboratory animals including beagle dogs.”
“Its organisers argue that an inquiry should examine accountability and transparency, while helping advance research methods relevant to humans that do not use animals. The petition also states that cases of non-compliance under the Act have resulted in no fines or prosecutions over the past decade.” 📰 Full Story →
Court finds probable cause in Ridglan Farms beagle case
Elyse Noe, Action News 2, 10/28/2026
“A court commissioner found probable cause Wednesday in the case against 51 people charged in connection with the March removal of beagles from Ridglan Farms, allowing the case to move forward. . . . . 51 people have been charged with felony burglary, theft and property damage in connection with the incident.” 📰 Full Story →