Here’s a roundup of last 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.
SC Monkey Farm President Confirms Monkey Deaths that Occurred over Thanksgiving Holiday
Mitchell Black & Marilyn Thompson, Post & Courier, 12/20/2024
“An undisclosed number of monkeys died in an enclosure on the Alpha Genesis breeding and research campus over the Thanksgiving holiday….”
“The deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning remain under investigation” and “are a dark turn for the monkey farm that drew worldwide attention after 43 primates escaped through a series of gates, over a fence and into Lowcountry wilderness in early November.” 📰 Full Story →
Biden Administration Spent Millions Creating Transgender Animals to Experiment On
Robert Schmad, Washington Examiner, 12/21/2024
“The federal spending supported research ranging from studying the cardiovascular effect of giving ‘feminizing hormone therapy’ to male rats to providing animals injected with sex hormones, a ‘popular drug of abuse utilized at raves,’ to investigate overdose in ‘vulnerable female and transgender populations.’”
“One of the most expensive publicly-funded transgender animal studies seeks to understand ‘the effects of feminizing hormone therapy with estrogen in the lungs of trans women’ by giving mice female sex hormones and then irritating their respiratory systems with mites to record information about their reactions. To date, the study has cost roughly $3.1 million, according to federal records.” 📰 Full Story →
US Lab from which Monkeys Escaped Accused of Widespread Abuse
Claire Colley, The Guardian, 12/21/2024
“[Alpha Genesis Incorporated (AGI)’ is accused of ‘abuse and neglect’, and of violations of the Animal Welfare Act, as leaked documents show that between 2021 and 2023, multiple primates held at AGI centres endured preventable traumatic injuries and deaths. The emails, veterinary reports and photos were passed to Peta [sic] by a veterinary whistleblower who alleges neglect, incompetence and a culture of disregard for animal welfare at AGI’s Yemassee and Hampton primate centres in South Carolina.”
“An attending vet said in an email: ‘ I nearly had a full-blown meltdown today and I am wanting to know if I’m overreacting or not regarding the inability to provide minimal standards of care in these situations.’ The vet continued: ‘I’m pissed that I don’t have any adequate staff when this stuff comes up, and it’s such a systematic problem here at AGI.’”
“An outside consultant who reviewed the incident said: ‘The lack of trained personnel [] is unacceptable.’” 📰 Full Story →
Researchers at SC Monkey Farm Injected Primates with Dangerous Zika Virus for Study
Marilyn W. Thompson & Mitchell Black, Post & Courier, 12/22/2024
“When a prestigious research team from Boston wanted to test a vaccine for the highly infectious Zika virus, they brought the project to a South Carolina monkey farm that has been steadily growing business at a secretive laboratory inside its boundaries. The team also has used Alpha Genesis for studies on vaccines for the potentially deadly viruses that cause COVID and HIV.”
“Little is known about the operations of the Alpha Genesis lab . . . But scientific journals offer details that raise questions about public accountability in a system heavily reliant on self regulation.”
“[AGI CEO] Westergaard said . . . some studies of viral agents involve transporting infected monkeys off the property to another laboratory, but he declined to identify specific projects because of client confidentiality.”
“[A] former employee said that . . . [c]ockroaches, palmetto bugs and large rodents wriggled into the building holding these tested primates and could find their way out….’” 📰 Full Story →
How Testing Drugs on Mice Could Actually DELAY Life-Saving Breakthroughs — And the Reason We May Soon No Longer Need Live Animals
Lucy Elkins, Daily Mail, 12/23/2024
“According to one study, a mouse’s immune system, for example, has only 10 per cent in common with ours. ‘And our lifespan is much longer and our tissue repair mechanisms are very different, as we need to survive for longer,’ . . . ‘Most animal research simply does not predict outcomes in humans with sufficient reliability to be of use for human illness.’”
“Mice lack tonsils, their heart beats faster, their cholesterol levels are significantly lower and they break down fat differently. That means wild mice don’t develop heart disease. And using mice brings challenges for conditions such as Alzheimer’s, as they don’t naturally develop the condition . . . mouse testing doesn’t ‘truly reflect the complexity of the disease as we see it in most people’.”
“‘An argument in support of animal testing is that we share many genes with mice, for example, but that doesn’t prove anything . . .’ . . . ‘It’s not having genes in common that matters, it’s how genes function – and there are big differences between us, mice and primates in this respect. And one tiny difference can be significant when it comes to testing a drug.’” 📰 Full Story →
Rand Paul Undercovers $15 Million Taxpayer Funded Cat Experiments
Gabrielle M. Etzel, Washington Examiner, 12/23/2024
“Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) annual government waste report, published Monday, revealed nearly $15 million in taxpayer medical testing on cats involving electroshock therapy, induced vomiting, and other cruel forms of experimentation.”
“According to Paul’s Festivus report this year, the NIH has spent more than $1.5 million on what he characterizes as ‘medieval-type experiments’ on kittens involving electroshock therapy and spinning apparatuses to test motion sickness. Female kittens as young as four months old, who are selected because they are more ‘amenable’ to testing, are ‘kept tied down for hours at a time and for weeks on end’ according to the report to train them before they are put into hydraulic gyroscopes that spin rapidly to induce motion sickness. Paul’s report outlines that, before experimentation, the researchers ‘zombify’ the cats, severing or completely removing parts of their brains to ensure that they are alive but lack any cognitive function. This, Paul says, turns ‘them into unresponsive shells that can be spun, shocked and abused without resistance.’”
“The report also describes a nearly $11 million experiment from the DOD’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to see if electroshock therapy can cure erectile dysfunction and constipation. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh inserted electrodes into the spinal cords of male cats to induce erections by electric shock. ‘These cats were then subjected to even more electric shocks, sometimes for up to 10 minutes at a time, before having their spinal cords severed to paralyze their lower bodies,’ reads Paul’s report. ‘And just for good measure, the shocks continued for another 10 minutes.’”
“Another DARPA-funded project at Pitt involved the same attachment of electrodes to the spinal cord and the insertion of ‘condom-balloons into their colons and marbles into their rectums’ in order to study the effects of electrotherapy on constipation. ‘Apparently, nothing says “national defense” quite like torturing cats to poop marbles,’ Paul writes.” 📰 Full Story →
Marmosets Call Each Other by ‘Names’ with Distinct Vocalizations
Jordan Joseph, Earth.com, 12/25/2024
“ . . . marmosets may be masters of communication. The experts report that these little monkeys can call each other by specific ‘names’ using their distinct vocalizations….”
“Recent studies reveal that baby marmosets learn to ‘talk’ by mimicking their parents, much like human infants acquire language through imitation. Scientists have observed that they also demonstrate conversational etiquette, taking turns during vocal exchanges in a way that mirrors human dialogue. Furthermore, the researchers found that marmosets eavesdrop on their neighbors’ conversations and even make judgments based on what they overhear.” 📰 Full Story →