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.
Why We Still Test on Animals, Explained
Marlena Williams, 4/19/2024
“ . . . there are countless technological advancements that could make both human and animal subjects unnecessary.”
“A potent mix of government inertia, political volatility and public skepticism towards new methods may favor the status quo over more humane and effective alternatives.”
“While technologies like organoids, organs-on-chips and computer simulations show great promise for future advancements, there has not been enough institutional interest or investment in these alternatives to make a meaningful difference in transforming the current system.”
“Last year’s federal budget [] included $5 million dollars for a new FDA program designed to develop and encourage non-animal testing methods. But $5 million dollars is a mere drop in the bucket of the FDA’s massive $8.4 billion federal budget . . . If the National Institutes of Health invested just 1 percent of its whopping $48 billion dollar budget in exploring non-animal alternatives . . . we could make significant progress towards shifting away from animal testing….”
“For researchers to shift to using [] new methods, we may just need to, as scientist John Gluck writes, ‘rethink and re-form the entire framework of beliefs that underlies our relationship with nonhuman species.’” 📰 Full Story →
Council Approves Narrow Animal Testing Ban
Karin K. Jensen, 4/19/2024
“ . . . City Council carrowly approved a ban on animal testing or experimentation on property owned or controlled by the City of Alameda except where such testing or experimentation is performed as part of research related to regulatory filings related to human or animal therapeutics, vaccines, devices, parasiticides. Critics contend this mostly maintains the status quo.”
“No other California municipality bans animal testing.” 📰 Full Story →
The Challenges of Studying (and Treating) PTSD in Chimpanzees
Tim Brinkhof, 4/22/2024
“According to government data, around 1,500 chimpanzees were used in biomedical research at any given time in the United States alone.”
“Although experts disagree on whether to call this post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the majority of chimps emerged from labs with symptoms reminiscent of the condition, including hypervigilance, disassociation, and self-harm. For years, caregivers and animal behaviorists at wildlife sanctuaries – which have taken on the ‘retired’ medical animals – have worked to treat these symptoms….”
“Chimpanzee Jeannie . . . was subjected to a variety of invasive procedures, including vaginal washes, cervical and liver punches, and lymph node biopsies. She was infected with HIV, hepatitis NANB and hepatitis C. Following protocol, she was anesthetized by a dart gun before each procedure. In total, Jeannie was ‘knocked down’ more than 200 times. Seven years into her time at LEMSIP, Jeannie had what researchers described as a ‘nervous breakdown’ that made further testing all but impossible. She suffered seizures and occasionally attacked her hands or feet as though they were not part of her own body. She arranged her food on the floor of her suspended cage instead of eating it. Whenever lab personnel approached her, she would scream, froth, salivate, urinate, defecate, roll back her eyes, and throw herself against all four sides of her confinement.”
“ . . . other mental problems like depression or generalized anxiety disorder [are] two other conditions commonly observed in captive chimpanzees.” 📰 Full Story →
Animal Researchers Are Consciously Cruel
Rise for Animals, 4/23/2024
Infamous vivisector René Descartes viewed animals as mere machines, denying their consciousness. Sadly, this outlook persists in modern research, despite ever-mounting evidence of other-than-human sentience.
Modern animal researchers may not want to talk about — and, indisputably, do not want us to think about — animal consciousness. As they put it, they “don’t really want to know these things” (even though they observe them firsthand each and every day of their professional lives). 📰 Full Story →
VA Continues ‘Approved’ Experiments on Dogs, Cats and Monkeys After Congress Orders an End to Live-Animal Tests by 2026
Linda F. Hersey, 4/24/2024
“Researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs will implant pacemakers in the hearts of 54 dogs that will be euthanized at the end of the tests and surgically embed wires and sensors into the backs and legs of cats in separate experiments that the VA plans to conduct on live animals in 2024….”
“Though the Department of Veterans Affairs is under order by Congress to phase out live animal experiments using cats, dogs and primates ‘with limited exceptions’ by 2026, the agency continues to support live-animal research at VA facilities across the U.S., according to the VA.”
“The VA also has approval in 2024 to continue experiments on dozens of rhesus macaque monkeys for measuring treatment outcomes for spinal cord injuries. The experiment at the VA San Diego Health Care System involves damaging a monkey’s spinal cord in surgical procedures. The monkey then undergoes ‘multiple major survival surgeries’ . . . The experiment identifies the use of restraint chairs for behavioral testing to force monkeys recovering from spinal cord injuries to use the hand with limited use to perform tasks.” 📰 Full Story →
New Developments in Legal Battles Surrounding Controversial Primate Breeding Farm Coming to Bainbridge
AJ Douglas, 4/24/2024
“Back in February we reported on how a handful of neighbors filed a legal complaint against city and county officials . . . the legal motion aims to reverse the previous submission of a revenue bond which would allow primate research company Safer Human Medicine to build a facility in Bainbridge.”
“ . . . Safer Human Medicine has allegedly asked to be heard in that case . . .
A spokesperson for Safer Human Medicine emailed a statement stating: ‘We are confident in our legal standing and plan to proceed with the site in Bainbridge.’” 📰 Full Story →
Rescued From Lab, 4 Beagles Enjoy Playful Reunion in Beaver County
Scott Tady, 4/25/2024
“Four of the Envigo beagles met up for playtime in Beaver County. They were among the 4,000 beagles rescued in 2022 from a Virginia laboratory in the biggest dog rescue in U.S. history.”
“‘The beagles are thriving and living their best lives with loving families who adopted them and rescued them from the testing they would have endured by living in the laboratory in Virginia,’….” 📰 Full Story →
USDA Issues UAB Animal Testing Facilities Warning, Cite Animal Deaths and Lack of Veterinarian Care
James Giles, 4/25/2024
“ . . . the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a warning to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.”
“According to the warning, UAB is being cited for inadequate veterinary care, allowing three ferrets to die, five others to be injured after being exposed to cigarette smoke while their supply of oxygen was obstructed due to a build up of tar residue, and letting a ferret go without water so long that, when [they] finally got water, [they] drank for three straight minutes.” 📰 Full Story →
New: Discover Ways to Join the Fight for Animals’ Rights
From webinars to protests, you can make a difference by getting involved in the fight for animal rights! Check out these upcoming events where you can stand up for animals either online or in-person. The events on this page have been collected and posted by Rise for Animals, but they are not affiliated with us unless otherwise noted — we’re just helping to boost the people-power within our collective movement to end animal experimentation. 🗓️ See Events →