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.
National Research Watchdog Charges UC Davis Laboratory Killed 2 Monkeys, Broke Federal Law
The Davis Vanguard, 11/17/2023
“A national research watchdog disclosed in a statement this week the University of California, Davis, has been assessed ‘critical’ violations for breaking federal law from regulators because of the deaths of at least two primates in UCD research programs.”
“‘The USDA, the enforcers of the Animal Welfare Act, have . . . issued a violation for the cooking death of the monkey . . . Also, they issued an additional violation for a separate animal death,’….” Full Story →
Favoring the Death of Animals: Behind the FDA’s Veil
Rise for Animals, 11/30/2023
Almost a year ago, the passage of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 eliminated the legal requirement that human drugs be tested on other-than-human animals. But now, almost 12 months later, the FDA has yet to similarly amend any of its regulations requiring data from animal experiments. Full Story →
Pigs Proven Intelligent Enough to Play Video Games
Robby Berman, 11/21/2023
“As evidence keeps mounting in support of the idea that pigs are highly intelligent–and despite researchers viewing the species merely as a source of organs for human transplant–there’s some compelling new evidence from scientists . . . Researchers [] have taught four pigs to operate joysticks and play a rudimentary video game.”
“In addition to being able to play this ‘game’ well, the researchers found that the pigs’ performance could be improved with human verbal encouragement.”
“This sort of study is important . . . because, as with any sentient beings, how we interact with pigs and what we do to them impacts and matters to them.” Full Story →
Animal Testing Ban for Cosmetics Loses Ground in Europe
Jennifer Weil, 11/24/2023
“Symrise has lost an appeal against a European Chemicals Agency, or ECHA, decision requiring animal testing on cosmetics ingredients. The decision . . . requires animal testing on two formerly approved ingredients used exclusively in sunscreens….”
“‘This decision renders the European Union and United Kingdom bans on animal testing for cosmetics virtually meaningless….’”
“CFRI said the two sunscreen ingredients’ toxicity tests that ECHA requires will involve more than 5,500 animals, including rats, rabbits and fish, with a high degree of suffering before their death.” Full Story →
Monkey Business Coming to Commissioners Court
Clara Tyler, 11/24/2023
“The Brazoria County Commissioners Court is set to take a stand against a proposed laboratory animal facility . . . The planned facility, intended to house purpose-bred non-human primate laboratory animals for the development of new medicines, has raised concerns among county officials and residents alike.”
“At this time Charles River Laboratories has not reached out to the county at all about the proposed facility . . . ‘They haven’t been forthcoming with information….’” Full Story →
Watchdog Calls US Research ‘Barbaric’ After Rats Dosed with Herbicide, Exposed to Heat Die
Alan Festo, 11/27/2023
“The research in question dates back to June 12, when 14 rats were dosed with glyphosate – an herbicide – and then subjected to 95-degree heat for eight hours. After the study, six of the rats were found dead.”
“‘Glyphosate is a serious environmental problem, but that will not be solved by poisoning animals under artificial conditions in a laboratory setting.’” Full Story →
Scientists Discover That Worms May Have “Emotions”
Nagoya City University, 11/23/2023
“Traditionally, the study of emotions in animals has been a complex area, predominantly examining fear responses in mice and rats. However, since the 2010s, it has been increasingly reported in scientific papers that even crayfish and flies may have brain functions resembling emotions by focusing on several characteristics of their behavior, such as persistence and valence.”
“[W]hen worms sense the dangerous stimulus of an electric shock, their highest survival priority is to escape from that location. To achieve this, the brain’s functioning seems to persistently change, including ignoring the usually significant ‘food’ in order to escape danger. This suggests that the phenomenon of ‘worms continuing to run due to short-term electrical stimulation’ reflects basic ‘emotions.’”
“Many of the genes at work in worms are known to have counterparts in humans and other organisms….” Full Story →
Turning the Page on Animal Research
Rise for Animals, 11/29/2023
Every facet of the animal use industry is controlled by corporate and self interests — and medical journals are no exception. Last week, more than 1,000 scientists and health care professionals joined together to call out and boycott a medical journal that they say has published “egregious animal experiments that could have been ethically conducted in humans”. Full Story →