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.
Ridglan Farms: A Living Hell for Beagles
Rise for Animals, 10/25/2024
Inside Wisconsin’s Ridglan Farms, thousands of beagles are forced to live in barren, cramped cages and endure horrific, unlicensed surgeries like vocal cord removal without anesthesia.
This past Wednesday (October 23, 2024) a judge oversaw a hearing outlining evidence that Ridglan has broken state animal cruelty laws and warrants a Special Prosecutor’s investigation and prosecution. Six witnesses took the stand. Here, read some excerpts from the witnesses’ harrowing testimonies, and see video and photographs from inside Ridglan, as captured by Direct Action Everywhere (DXE) during a beagle rescue mission. 📰 Full Story →
🚨 Urge Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to take action in honor of Ridglan’s past victims and in protection of Ridglan’s present and future victims. Act NOW here!
Scientists Who Object to Animal Testing Claim They Are Frozen Out By Peers
Katie Dancey-Downs & Jane Dalton, 10/18/2024
“Scientists who question the validity of animal experiments are warning that medical progress is being held back because they are being ‘frozen out’ by their peers.”
“A number of scientists based in the US claim they are being censored because of their skepticism, while others are said to be too afraid of the consequences to object to tests on animals. In an industry where evidence is paramount, they warn of a culture of entrenched attitudes instead of open-mindedness.”
“‘The system is set up in a way that you can’t really fight it if you want to have a career in academia,’ she said. ‘You have to publish or perish. You depend on these funding agencies for the money, and they’re requesting animal data.’” 📰 Full Story →
‘Tormented Monkeys’ Draw PETA’s Wrath Against Airline Freight
The Free Press Journal, 10/17/2024
PETA “staged a protest outside Ethiopian Airlines’ office in Andheri with a giant idol of a wounded and tormented monkey, urging the airline to stop transporting endangered long-tailed macaques for use in experiments.”
“PETA alleged that Ethiopian Airlines has flown thousands of monkeys from Mauritius to Southeast Asia for experimentation” and “that the airline appears to have ties to an alleged illegal international monkey-smuggling ring.” 📰 Full Story →
The FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program Has A New Target: Animal Rights Activists
Grey Moran, 10/19/2024
“The FBI has been collaborating with the meat industry to gather information on animal rights activism . . . under its directive to counter weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, according to agency records recently obtained by the nonprofit Animal Partisan through Freedom of Information Act litigation.”
“Animal rights lawyers and advocates view this new frontier for WMD allegations as a pretense, a fictive way to legitimate the criminal prosecution of animal rights activists.” 📰 Full Story →
Scientist Uncovered a Puzzling ‘Sixth Sense’ in One Animal
Joshua Hawkins, 10/19/2024
“Geckos apparently have a ‘sixth sense’ that allows them to pick up deep and low vibrations.”
“Like most lizards, geckos are able to pick up sounds using their ears that range between 1,600 and 2,000 Hertz and even beyond 5,000 Hertz. However, the tokay gecko can pick up vibrations that are much lower and deeper–within the range of 50 to 200 Hertz–using a special part of their inner ear called the saccule.’”
“ . . . this development . . . .shows just how much evolution can change from animal to animal–especially since not all lizards or even all geckos appear to rely on the saccule to take advantage of this sixth sense.” 📰 Full Story →
Stressed Bees May Experience Human-Like Emotions
Austin Littrell, 10/22/2024
“Researchers . . . have discovered that bumblebees’ responses to adverse events resemble human emotions. Findings of the study show that bees lower their expectations of rewards when they become agitated or stressed . . . The study offers significant evidence for judgement [sic] bias in bees.”
“‘Our research suggests that, like other animals, including humans, bees may experience emotion-like states when stressed, as demonstrated by a clear shift towards pessimism,’ . . . ‘When faced with ambiguity, stressed bees, much like someone seeing the glass as “half empty,” are more likely to expect negative outcomes.’” 📰 Full Story →
Ridglan Farms Accused of the Wholesale Abuse of Dogs
Bill Leuders, 10/23/2024
“At the hearing on Wednesday in Dane County circuit court . . . six witnesses [] testified at the all-day hearing, which was live-streamed and posted on YouTube. The petition before the court, based on a state law that allows judges to look into filing criminal charges in cases where prosecutors refuse to act, was brought by the local groups Dane4dogs and the Alliance for Animals as well as Wayne Hsiung, a San Francisco-based animal rights activist.”
“Hsiung, in his testimony, said that even though he had taken part in “a few dozen” prior animal cruelty investigations, he had never seen conditions as bad as what he saw at Ridglan Farms. ‘The behaviors we saw at this facility were not just abnormal, they were psychotic.’” 📰 Full Story →
Species Spotlight: Opossums
Rise for Animals, 10/23/2024
Not only are Virginia opossums “North America’s only marsupial”, but they are one “of the most misunderstood animals in the Americas”. Far from the unfair and inaccurate reputation many humans have assigned them, opossums are sweet, shy, calm, docile, smart, clever, clean, “fascinating, adaptable creature[s] [who have] found a way to live alongside humanity”. 📰 Full Story →