If Thanksgiving is an opportunity for all of us to reflect on things we’re genuinely grateful for, we’d like to highlight the great news that the number of cats, dogs, and rabbits that suffer in medical experiments continues to decrease steadily.

Key points

• The number of cats being used in medical experiments in the U.S. is now at an all-time low.
• The number of cats used is down over 48% from 1991.
• The number of dogs used is down nearly 40% from 1991.
• The number of rabbits used is down 38% from 2008 alone, the fastest decrease we’ve seen yet!

The “three Rs” (replace animals with other methods, reduce the number of animals used, and refine animal tests to be less awful for the animals to experience) are a key part of the Animal Welfare Act, and we’re grateful that these reductions are, in fact, taking place.

We’re grateful to Congress, reformers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), individual researchers who have dedicated their careers to finding non-animal methods of scientific inquiry, most importantly, you; None of these reductions would be possible without your support and advocacy, so thank you for making our work possible.

At Thanksgiving and each day of the year, we are thankful for our supporters who make our work possible. Thank you!