Here’s a roundup of this week’s 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.
Beagles Used for Testing in Labs Will Feel Sunshine for First Time in Kelowna
Jesse Tomas, 4/12/2024
“An American charity has rescued 10 beagles from laboratories and plans to set them up with loving homes….”
“‘We are calling this our Dogs Know No Borders Lab to Love Rescue Tour. These dogs have never felt the sun on their snouts or the grass under their paws. It’s a special moment to see their first few steps,’….”
“‘They suffer from PTSD and anxiety but because of their resilience and ability to forgive, become the most loving companions and family members,’…. 📰 Full Story →
Oppose the Bleeding Out of Baby Cows: Support Vegan Science
Rise for Animals, 4/17/2024
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) is harvested from fetuses cut out of pregnant cows. As champions of ethical science, we must oppose any and all exploitation of animals and, thereby, demand absolute replacement of their use in research and testing. 📰 Full Story →
Seton Hall Lab Mice Were Living in ‘Extremely Dirty’ Conditions, University Says
Amanda Wallace, 4/12/2024
“A Seton Hall University faculty member was suspended by the university after failing to provide mice in their research facility ‘with essential necessities needed to sustain life,’ ultimately leading to the euthanasia of 76 mice.”
“ . . . the cages housing these mice were ‘extremely dirty’ with ‘noticeable excess fecal matter and urine.’ The color of the animal’s bedding was black. Some cages contained up to nine to 12 mice in each cage . . . they found water bottles in all but one or two cages empty and dead baby mice in the cage of breeding animals.”
“They instructed the faculty member to euthanize the mice and clean the room….” 📰 Full Story →
Nonprofit Medical Group Protests CU’s Use of Animals for Surgical Training
Heather Willard, 4/12/2024
“A nonprofit organization of doctors . . . . protested at the University of Colorado Board of Regents meeting on Thursday due to Anschutz Medical Campus’ purported use of live pigs for surgery training.”
“The group offered to foot the bill for an initial demonstration of ‘perfused’ human cadavers that bleed, which are valued at $13,000. It’s also placed billboards around Denver demanding the medical school quit the practice immediately.”
“The group’s signage included graphics of a pig that stated ‘CU Regents: Patients Aren’t Pigs! Stop Killing Animals to Train Surgeons.’” 📰 Full Story →
BRAD Wants You to Believe that Brutality Is Benevolence
Rise for Animals, 4/18/2024
Biomedical Research Awareness Day (BRAD) is an enduring part of the animal research industry. The day is courtesy of Americans for Medical Progress, a group of “top-notch propagandists” recruited and paid for by animal researchers to aggressively defend animal research. 📰 Full Story →
University of Michigan Faces Lawsuit Over Withholding Mouse Swim Test Footage
Jennfier Dixon, 4/15/2024
“An animal rights group is suing the University of Michigan Board of Regents, saying that the university refused to turn over videos of mice forced to swim in plastic cylinders with no chance of escaping as part of a research project to test the effectiveness of a drug on human depression.”
“Animal Partisan filed the lawsuit on Monday in the Michigan Court of Claims, alleging the exemptions cited by the university do not apply to the videos created in connection with a 2010 study….” 📰 Full Story →
VA Ordered to End Experiments on Dogs, Cats and Primates by 2026
Linda F. Hersey, 4/17/2024
“Experiments and testing on cats, dogs and primates by the Department of Veteran Affairs must end by 2026 under newly enacted legislation that lawmakers highlighted during a House subcommittee hearing Tuesday.”
“The legislation was part of the VA spending bill signed into law in March for fiscal 2024” and “represents the first time that Congress has directed a federal agency to completely end experimentation on certain animal species….” 📰 Full Story →
How the US Failed to Stop a Cambodian Monkey ‘Smuggling Conspiracy’
Jack Adamovic Davies, 4/17/2024
“ . . . while the ministry celebrate Kry’s release as clearing the Cambodian government of any wrongdoing in the monkey trade, court transcripts – as well as an extensive Radio Free Asia investigation last year – showed the U.S. had acquired significant evidence that macaques were being traded illegally even if it didn’t have sufficient evidence to convict Kry of being a willing participant. Instead, a strikingly narrow scope and a reliance on a controversial undercover investigation seemed to have doomed the U.S. government’s case from the start.”
“The prosecutors . . . were bound by an unusually narrow set of permissible arguments. In part, they were constrained by the Act of State doctrine, which prohibits U.S. courts and juries from passing judgment on the actions of foreign states. This restriction appeared to present a challenge to the prosecutor in a case where one of the central allegations was that Cambodia’s longtime ruling party was being paid for its participation in the scheme.” 📰 Full Story →
Update: You Helped Protect Nonhuman Primates from the NIH!
Rise for Animals, 4/18/2024
The federal government’s 2024 budget was finalized without including $30 million more dollars to fund further research on nonhuman primates. 📰 Full Story →