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.
Animal Research is Reeling — But Will the FDA Finish the Job?
Rise for Animals, 4/15/2025
In a surprise announcement about a week ago, the FDA unveiled a new roadmap signaling a shift away from animal testing and toward human-relevant science — causing major biotech stocks to plummet. But without immediate public pressure and legislative support, this historic opportunity for real change could quickly be undermined by the powerful animal research industry. 📰 Full Story →
“Heavily Regulated,” Says Researcher With Daughter in Charge
Rise for Animals, 4/17/2025
Animal researchers often cite robust oversight to justify their experiments, but the truth is, U.S. lab oversight is toothless and self-imposed. This exposé reveals how industry insiders — including one whose own daughter chairs the oversight board — profit from a broken system. 📰 Full Story →
Trump’s deep cuts to health research put lab animals at risk, scientists say
Praveena Somasundaram, The Washington Post, 4/11/2025
“ . . . scientists in the United States worry that the Trump administration’s deep cuts to research funding and the federal workforce will compel an early end to their work, as well as a needless sacrifice of the animals that enable it.”
“The Department of Health and Human Services, which provides funding and personnel for animal research projects at its agencies and external labs, said in a statement Tuesday that the changes ‘will not imperil ongoing research of the animals involved,’ adding that institutions should cover care costs with their endowments. ‘If they can pay millions of dollars for coaching salaries, they can afford to care for their animals,’ a spokesperson for HHS said in an email . . . HHS said it strongly encourages ‘research facilities to explore humane alternatives, such as adoption, rather than euthanization.’”
“For animals already involved in experiments, ‘the kindest thing to do is to euthanize them,’ said Justin Goodman, [White Coat Waste]’s senior vice president of advocacy and public policy.
‘They’re not going to be suffering any longer,’ he said.” 📰 Full Story →
Investigating whether Trump revived a promise to end animal testing at the EPA
Grace Deng, Snopes, 4/16/2025
“It is true that an effort to phase out testing on some animals by 2035 at the EPA began under Trump’s first term. But researchers don’t just use mammals in testing: Birds, turtles and other non-mammals are used for experimentation and would not be affected by the 2035 deadline.”
“Non-mammals – including crabs, fish, frogs, octopuses, birds and turtles – are not addressed in the directive, meaning that per the dictionary definition of animal, it would not be accurate to say that the Trump administration planned to phase out all animal testing. However, under the Animal Welfare Act . . . the word ‘animal’ applies only to a very specific subset of creatures and excludes cold-blooded ones and farm[ed] animals, as well as rats, mice and birds that are specifically bred for research. Thus, under that definition, the Trump administration’s decision to phase out mammal testing could be considered the same as phasing out animal testing, even though birds and other non-mammals not classified as ‘animals’ under the law are often used in research.” 📰 Full Story →
Commentary: Kudos to the FDA and EPA for planning to phase out animal testing
Niki Davis, Utah News Dispatch, 4/16/2025
“As a former NASA engineer turned [board-certified family and lifestyle medicine physician], I have the highest regard for evidence-backed decision making. The move by these two federal agencies to minimize animal testing in favor of human-focused models makes perfect scientific sense and ultimately will benefit patients by getting new pharmaceuticals and therapies to the market sooner and in a more cost-effective manner. Animal testing is outdated. It is tedious, expensive and oftentimes produces data that doesn’t translate to human health. Experimental methods that don’t use animals, like tissue chips and computational models, lead to the development of safer and more effective therapies and pharmaceuticals. In addition to benefits to human health, human-centric research approaches save animal lives and prevent their suffering.”
“In my lifestyle medicine practice, I work with patients to prevent and reverse chronic disease through diet, movement, and stress management. Often, my patients are able to come off of medications. But when pharmaceuticals are needed, I want to ensure they’re safe, effective, and fairly priced. To those points, the federal government’s recent moves to begin phasing out animal testing is a big step in the right direction.” 📰 Full Story →
Living with Lab Mice
Eva Meijer, Nautilus, 4/16/2025
“Through spending time with [“25 ex-laboratory mice with whom I lived between 2020 and 2023], I learned that mice are not the kind of beings that most humans think they are.”
“Mice are used in experiments because they are small and cheap, because they make lots of babies quickly, and because humans see them as simplistic, mechanistic, and replaceable . . . In the United States, an estimated 10 to 111 million mice are used each year; rodents are not covered by the federal Animal Welfare Act, so exact counts are not made. Yet even though humans use so many mice, we know surprisingly little about them. This is because the experiments are focused on humans. Laboratory mice are rarely studied to learn about mouse cognition, emotions, or social life for their own sake . . . scientists usually view them as objects of a study instead of subjects with a life that matters most to them.”
“[I]t is clear that the existing image of mice in human societies and science, as simple, mechanistic, replaceable beings, is entirely wrong . . . The mice who lived with me were deeply social beings, and care was central to their lives. They continued learning throughout life, and kept developing their projects and relationships with others.” 📰 Full Story →
Physicians Committee and 324 Physicians and Scientists Ask New NIH Director: Stop Using Animals
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 4/16/2025
In addition to “asking [Director Bhattacharya] to lead the agency in the important shift away from the use of animals in medical research”], the “letter requests that Director Bhattacharya shi ft [sic] support toward human-specific, nonanimal research methods. It also requests that the agency immediately cut funding to particularly egregious animal experiments, including its support for the seven National Primate Research Centers, and to implement policies to better track the amount of funds spent on animal research and the number of animals used.” 📰 Full Story →
Ridglan Farms is Suing Because Its Ugly Got Exposed
Rise for Animals, 4/18/2025
Ridglan Farms — Wisconsin’s notorious dog-breeding-and-research-operation — is suing the nonprofit Dane4Dogs for exposing its canine-exploitation business. Learn how whistleblowers and regulators confirm the truth, and why Ridglan’s complaint reads more like a confession. 📰 Full Story →