Here’s a roundup of the 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.
What If We Labeled Medicine Like the Swiss Label “Meat”?
Rise for Animals, 10/2/2025
In July 2025, Switzerland began requiring labels on meat and eggs that reveal whether animals were mutilated while conscious. This breakthrough in transparency raises a pressing question: why isn’t the biomedical industry required to disclose the cruelty behind medicines developed through animal experimentation? 📰 Full Story →
The AMA Isn’t Medicine’s Voice — It’s Animal Research’s
Rise for Animals, 9/30/2025
The American Medical Association (AMA) wants to be seen as the voice of medicine. But its history tells a different story: more than a century of lobbying for animal experimentation, protecting corporate interests, and slowing ethical, human-relevant science. Here’s what you need to know. 📰 Full Story →
Animal rights groups question Trump administration’s commitment to cut back on primate experiments
Madeleine May & Marilyn W. Thompson, CBS News, 9/26/2025
“A federal health agency that has promised to scale back its animal research has drawn the attention of animal rights advocates who want to know why it quietly approved millions in new funding for dozens of primate experiments since President Trump took office . . . ‘The NIH’s rhetoric about reducing animal testing doesn’t match reality,’ said Justin Goodman, senior vice president of White Coat Waste….”
“Monkeys from Alpha Genesis will be used in new kidney research at the University of Pittsburgh that involves doing transplants in monkeys and euthanizing them at the study’s conclusion. The project got $1.4 million in July from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The study is slated to receive $10.1 million through 2030, according to funding documents.”
“White Coat Waste has catalogued about $91 million in spending on animal research in recent months and provided details of the kidney project funding. The group has used Freedom of Information Act requests and spending documents to compile a list of more than 70 projects receiving money through the National Institutes of Health, despite promises to cut back on the funding . . . White Coat Waste also discovered in March that NIAID would continue funding for the operations of Morgan Island, a remote barrier island popularly known as ‘Monkey Island’ where the federal agency keeps up to 4,000 rhesus monkeys destined for research.” 📰 Full Story →
NIH’s $87 million nonanimal testing project
Erin Schumaker & Ruth Reader, POLITICO, 9/25/2025
“The National Institutes of Health is launching an $87 million project to develop a standardized alternative to animal testing that relies on tiny, lab-grown 3D tissue models that mimic the structure and function of human organs . . . The Standardized Organoid Modeling Center at the Maryland-based Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research will develop, test and deploy the technology nationwide. The funding will last three years, with tentative plans to move the project into private industry or another government home after, if it’s successful.”
“As for the possibility of blowback from long-term NIH scientists in fields that rely heavily on animal testing, such as neurology, Cherry [Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research’s contracting office representative and associate director of the research technologies branch at one of the NIH’s subagencies] emphasized that the project is about adding options, not removing them. ‘When I presented several months ago at the scientific directors meeting at NIH, I made it crystal clear, this is not to eliminate or terminate animal models. It’s to complement,’ he said.” 📰 Full Story →
Ridglan Farms refuses $55K animal welfare fine, case moves to DA
Shaina Nijhawan, 15 WMTV, 9/27/2025
“The controversial dog breeding facility Ridglan Farms is now facing possible legal action after refusing to settle a $55,000 civil forfeiture tied to hundreds of alleged violations of state animal welfare laws. According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), Ridglan had until 4:30 p.m. Friday to agree to the penalty. On Saturday, DATCP confirmed to WMTV that the facility declined the stipulation and the case is now being referred to the Dane County District Attorney’s Office.” 📰 Full Story →
Seize this ‘crucial moment’ for animal-free chemical testing reform, say experts
Brian Maguire, Euractiv, 9/29/2025
“The European Union is a pivotal moment in its efforts to modernise chemical safety regulations, as policymakers, industry leaders and animal welfare advocates converge on the need to accelerate the transition away from animal testing under the REACH framework. During a recent Euractiv Policy Triangle discussion in Brussels, experts emphasised the urgency of aligning regulatory frameworks with scientific innovation, particularly in the context of the European Commission’s forthcoming roadmap to phase out animal testing.”
“‘It’s a crucial time for Europe. It’s a crucial time for chemical safety, not just in Europe, but globally. People see Europe as a real leading light in the regulatory sphere. We also see it as a real turning point for science.’” 📰 Full Story →
End the Suffering of Monkeys in Animal Experiments – German Animal Welfare Association Calls for Support for a Bundestag Petition
Deutscher Tierschutzbund, 9/29/2025
“The German Animal Welfare Federation is calling for an end to animal testing and supports the Bundestag petition ‘Abolition of animal testing on monkeys,’ initiated by Doctors Against Testing and PETA Germany.”
“By October 20, 2025, the petition must reach at least 30,000 signatures for the Bundestag’s Petitions Committee to consider the matter. If the petition is approved, the federal government is obliged to respond.” 📰 Full Story →
Wisconsin dog breeding farm [Ridglan] manager has veterinary license suspended
Bryan Polcyn, FOX6 Milwaukee, 9/30/2025
“The man in charge of a controversial Dane County beagle breeding farm is now barred from practicing veterinary medicine.”
“Earlier this year, the state veterinary examining board allowed Richard Van Domelen to keep practicing under certain conditions. On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the board voted unanimously to suspend his license while his disciplinary case proceeds. The board also voted to defer their authority over the case to an administrative law judge.”
“Earlier this year, Van Domelen was facing suspension for delegating hundreds of so-called ‘cherry eye’ surgeries to employees with no veterinary license. Two employees testified last fall to participating in the bloody surgeries, saying they used no anesthesia. Instead of suspending him in March, the board allowed Van Domelen to keep practicing under specific conditions. But Tuesday, the board held a new emergency vote to suspend him, after a recent surprise inspection apparently found problems with record keeping.” 📰 Full Story →
NIH Still Conducting Fauci’s Horrific Dog Torture Experiments
Jose Nino, Headline USA, 10/1/2025
“The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has approved more than $20 million for new dog studies despite pledging to phase out animal-based testing models, according to evidence compiled by the White Coat Waste Project (WCWP).”
“‘Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to bankroll barbaric beagle tests just so pharma can profit,’ . . . ‘To erase Fauci’s fingerprints from NIH, President Trump and Secretary Kennedy must defund dog labs and finish cleaning house.’” 📰 Full Story →
Jane Goodall’s most radical message was not about saving the planet
Marina Bolotnikova, VOX, 10/2/2025
“She was among the few preeminent scientists willing to use her status to speak plainly about animal exploitation, even calling for colleagues to reevaluate not just the ethics of animal experimentation, but also its scientific value: ‘More and more scientists today are concluding that experiments on animals are contributing nothing toward cures for disease in humans,’ she said.”
“Goodall achieved such fame that she could afford to break with convention without risking professional marginalization. Even so, it would have been easier for her to avoid pushing against received norms. But she was willing to see the implications of her own work on animal intelligence through to its only logical conclusion: that humanity’s pervasive tyranny over nonanimals lacks any serious moral basis. Her radical empathy pushes us to ask more of our institutions, and of ourselves.” 📰 Full Story →
In Memoriam: Dr. Jane Goodall (1934–2025)
Rise for Animals, 10/2/2025
We honor the extraordinary life and legacy of Dr. Jane Goodall, renowned conservationist, pioneering chimpanzee expert, and unwavering advocate for animals of all kinds. 📰 Full Story →
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