Here’s a roundup of the 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.
“You can torture the hell out of ‘em and they stay alive.”
Rise for Animals, 12/9/2024
Discover the dark truths behind the global trade in nonhuman primates for animal research. Bloomberg’s The Dirty Business of Monkey Laundering exposes the corruption, suffering, and greed fueling this multi-billion-dollar industry, with the U.S. at its center. 📰 Full Story →
US FDA Cited Animal Lab at Musk’s Neuralink for ‘Objectionable Conditions’
Rachael Levy, Reuters, 12/5/2024
“An animal testing laboratory at Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain technology company was found to have ‘objectionable conditions or practices’ by the Food and Drug Administration, which cited the company and urged it to address the problems.”
“FDA inspectors identified the issues at Neuralink’s animal testing facilities in California in June 2023, several weeks after the agency had given the company the green light for a small study of its brain implant in humans, according to the letter to Congress dated Nov. 29.” 📰 Full Story →
The Dangerous Underworld of Wild Monkey Laundering
Adrianne Jeffries, Bloomberg, 12/6/2024
“In the premiere episode of the new season of Bloomberg Investigates, we explore how a perfect storm created a global market for wild monkeys, one where highly intelligent animals are ripped from their habitats to feed pharmaceutical industry demand—with unforeseen and potentially dangerous consequences for humans.”
“In the Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary The Dirty Business of Monkey Laundering, we follow the investigation, starting with a whistleblower and ending with a dramatic confrontation in US federal court.” 📰 Full Story →
Out In the Cold: Fugitive Monkeys Still on the Lam as Lowcountry Winter Approaches
Marilyn W. Thompson & Mitchell Black, Post & Courier, 12/9/2024
“Four young rhesus macaques are still on the loose after eluding capture by search teams dispatched from a sprawling compound in a rural town.”
“Alpha Genesis has gone mostly silent after weeks of global media attention and press releases from the animal rights advocates trumpeting insider information about the facility from supposed whistleblowers.” 📰 Full Story →
New 270-Page Federal Complaint Filed Against Monkey Research Center
Amanda Shaw, FOX Carolina, 12/10/2024
“[PETA] filed a complaint with the USDA on Tuesday morning regarding new whistleblower allegations against [Alpha Genesis,] a monkey research facility currently under scrutiny.”
“The written complaint includes numerous necropsy reports, detailing deaths of monkeys caught in cage equipment, suffering traumatic injuries from other monkeys, and being left in the cold temperatures.”
“FOX Carolina sent an email to Alpha Genesis, which was delivered, asking for comment on the allegations but we have not yet received a response.” 📰 Full Story →
Scientists Fear Big Cuts to Animal Research Under Trump 2.0
David Grimm, Science, 12/10/2024
“Emboldened by Trump and proposed agency appointees who have scorned science and vowed to downsize government–along with Republican control of both bodies of Congress–[] organizations opposed to animal research [] see a fresh opportunity to reach their goals. Biomedical research advocates are bracing for the worst.”
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, has decried ‘the torture of animals for industry profit’; proposed NIH head Jay Bhattacharya has called White Coat Waste ‘absolute heroes’ for its attacks on federally funded virus experiments on animals in China; former Representative Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick to lead EPA, has pushed to end dog and cat research at the VA; and Martin Makary—named to run FDA—has referred to some NIH studies on dogs as ‘barbaric medical experiments.’ Meanwhile, Vivek Ramaswamy, co-leader of a White House panel to cut government spending, has declared, ‘I believe in animal rights.’” 📰 Full Story →
Vietnam’s Dong Nai Approves Monkey Breeding Farm for Medical Research
Hong Ngan, Tuoi Tre News, 12/11/2024
“The administration of Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam said on Tuesday that it had granted environmental approval to a new monkey breeding farm which will produce 14,000 monkeys annually for export to serve biomedical research.”
“This is the second monkey breeding farm in Dong Nai that has received environmental approval under the same operator. The first one . . . was licensed on June 27 . . . [and has] an annual capacity of 12,000 monkeys.”
“The corporation has been operating for over 30 years . . . specializing in breeding monkeys for export to the U.S., Europe, and Japan.” 📰 Full Story →
New Research: Dog and Cat Experiments Could End in Federal Labs by 2036
Scott Taylor, 10 WJAR, 12/11/2024
“Beagles rescued and adopted from animal research labs hit Capitol Hill Wednesday morning, as new data was revealed from Marymount University that the federal government is moving closer to eliminating the use of animals in experiments.”
“According to Professor Lopresti-Goodman’s research in 1973, there were 195,157 dogs in laboratories. In 2022, there were 48,292. This represents a statistically significant decrease of 75%. Using linear regression equation modeling, Lopresti-Goodman can also make predictions about when dog testing might end. Based upon the parameter estimates that dog use decreases by 3388.93 dogs each year, the model predicts the use of dogs ending by 2036” and “the use of cats might end in 2035.” 📰 Full Story →
2024: United in the Fight to Free Animals from Labs
Rise for Animals, 12/12/2024
As 2024 comes to a close, our hearts are brimming with gratitude and inspiration for the progress we’ve made to free animals from labs. See some of what we’ve achieved this year, thanks to the support of people like you. 📰 Full Story →