Here’s a roundup of the latest, 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.
Remembering the Brown Dog Who Helped Launch Our Movement
Rise for Animals, 2/2/2026
Over a hundred years ago, one small brown dog became a symbol of resistance. His suffering sparked public outrage, riots, and a movement that still stands united against animal experimentation today.
Learn his story: 📰 Full Story →
The Clock is Ticking on Promises to Reduce Animal Research
Rise for Animals, 2/4/2026
Federal agencies like the EPA, FDA, and NIH keep making promises to move beyond animal testing. It sounds like great news for animals in labs—but do these promises really mean anything without laws, deadlines, and accountability to back them up? 📰 Full Story →
UPDATE: New Changes Could Help Horseshoe Crabs Survive the Biomedical Industry
In Defense of Animals, 1/30/2026
“Decades of exploitation by the biomedical industry have led to a massive decline in horseshoe crabs, but a number of new changes, and more in the works, could protect them and help them recover.”
“In December 2025, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Horseshoe Crab Protection Act, which phases out horseshoe crab harvests in state waters by 2029. Once it goes into effect, it will save 150,000 individuals from being taken annually . . . There’s also the chance they may receive protection under the Endangered Species Act, with a lawsuit filed this month calling on the National Marine Fisheries Service to respond to a petition filed by a coalition of organizations seeking federal protection for them, which was due in May 2024.” 📰 Full Story →
Animal testing in Flanders falls to lowest level in a decade
Belga News Agency, 2/1/2026
“The number of animal tests in Flanders fell sharply in 2024, reaching its lowest level in at least 10 years. A total of 211,386 tests were recorded, almost 30,000 fewer than in 2023, a drop of 12 per cent . . . The downward trend has been going on for years. In 2014, more than 280,000 animal tests were carried out.”
“Flemish Animal Welfare minister Ben Weyts said the fall was the result of long-term policies aimed at reducing animal testing. He said Flanders was leading the way in Europe by promoting alternatives wherever possible and developing new methods when none exist . . . From this year, the rules will become even stricter. Limits will be placed on the use of rhesus monkeys, and breeders and suppliers of laboratory animals will have to pay a fee for official recognition. The money will go to the Flemish Animal Welfare Fund, which supports research into alternatives to animal testing.” 📰 Full Story →
GOP senator’s ‘Federal Fumbles’ report highlights $240M spent on transgender rat testing
Alex Miller, Fox News, 2/2/2026
“A new report from a Senate Republican showed that in the last year, the federal government wasted millions on transgender animal tests, lab testing beagles in China and aborted fetal tissue research.”
“Some of the more egregious examples of federal waste laid out in [Senator James Lankford’s 9th annual edition of ‘Federal Fumbles’] included a handful of grant programs from the National Institute of Health (NIH) held over from the Biden administration. Among those were a roughly $240 million study on transgender ‘animal experiments involving mice, rats and monkeys.’ That grant program was eventually terminated by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) . . . Lankford also found that $124,000 in taxpayer money was sent to China to conduct drug research and experiments on ‘up to 300 beagles per week.’ Lankford said NIH announced it would not renew the contract after national scrutiny….” 📰 Full Story
Animal rights group sues Ridglan Farms, seeking legal rights for animals
Bryan Polcyn, FOX6, 02/02/2026
“An animal rights group is suing Ridglan Farms, asking a court to treat thousands of beagles housed at the Dane County breeding facility as people under the law rather than property . . . In a lawsuit filed Monday by the Nonhuman Rights Project, the plaintiffs are the beagles themselves. The filing asks the court for a writ of habeas corpus. ‘Habeas corpus is Latin for free the body. And it’s a common law legal mechanism to protect in all forms, all forms of unlawful confinement,’ said [Christopher Berry of the Nonhuman Rights Project]. The legal tool is almost always used to challenge unlawful confinement of humans. Berry wants the court to extend that same protection to the beagles at Ridglan Farms. ‘This is the first case advocating for animals based on animal cruelty violations,’ said Berry. Similar legal efforts have been used in attempts to free elephants from zoos in New York and Pennsylvania. ‘So far, courts haven’t recognized this on behalf of animals, but really it’s only a matter of time,’ Berry said.”
“[Wayne] Hsiung said time may already be running out for the dogs. A special prosecutor previously said Ridglan would likely have all the dogs sold by February or March. Records provided to FOX6 by the Marty Project and Rise for Animals show Ridglan has sold about 140 dogs since signing the settlement agreement. The company had about 2,300 dogs in September and last month said that more than 2,200 remained at the facility.” 📰 Full Story →
WAN Exclusive Prompts Congressional Call To RFK Jr. To Cut NIH Dog Lab Funding
World Animal News, 2/2/2026
“ . . . U.S. Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) sent a letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., raising concerns about the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH)’s continued funding of painful experiments on dogs and cats and calling for an end.”
“In her letter, Mace . . . raises concerns that the NIH has continued to extend funding for existing projects, even though it appears to have the authority to discontinue them, despite committing last summer to phase them out. She cites [White Coat Waste] investigations that uncovered recently renewed NIH grants for experiments that induce strokes in puppies and kittens, as well as projects that breed dogs to suffer from blindness and bleeding disorders. While acknowledging Kennedy’s role in closing the NIH’s last intramural dog research laboratory, Mace argues that those actions fall short if the agency continues to bankroll similar experiments through external grants. She has requested a detailed update by February 20, 2026, outlining all steps the NIH has taken since July 2025 to phase out funding for dog and cat research. She is also urging the agency to adopt a policy prohibiting both new and existing NIH-funded projects that harm dogs and cats.”
“‘We will not sit silently while helpless animals are being tortured at the expense of the American taxpayer,’ Mace shared in a statement on Instagram. As the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research, Mace argues, the NIH should lead the way in modernizing science, ending outdated animal experiments, and ensuring that taxpayers are no longer forced to fund practices that many Americans find unacceptable.” 📰 Full Story →
EU takes big step to end animal tests for everyday cleaning products
Eurogroup For Animals, 2/2/2026
“In a major policy breakthrough for animal welfare and ethical science, the EU has reached a landmark agreement to ban the use of animal testing in the development of detergents and related cleaning products. This decision marks a notable moment in the broader movement towards phasing out harmful animal testing practices across EU chemical laws” and “underlines that the protection of public health and the environment can be achieved without animal testing.”
“While this ban on animal testing for detergents is a major achievement, it should be part of an overall strategy to phase out animal use across all sectors of chemical safety assessment. Current EU chemicals legislation such as REACH still heavily rely on animal tests, highlighting the urgent need to modernise the regulation and for a roadmap to phase out animal testing in chemical safety assessment.” 📰 Full Story →
As U.S. officials move to reduce animal testing in research, focus may shift to restrictions on imports
Ed Silverman, STAT+, 2/3/2026
“U.S. officials are ‘trying to put an end’ to importing non-human primates into the country for medical research purposes, Kennedy told Fox in an interview in late December, in remarks that attracted little attention at the time. Until recently, importation has not factored into the larger conversation about animal testing, which has focused on the ways in which newer technologies could be harnessed to test medicines in place of animals.”
“Asked about Kennedy’s remarks in December and whether HHS has taken to end or limit importation of non-human primates, a spokesperson said that across the administration ‘there is a shift to prioritize animal welfare,’ including by reducing unnecessary animal testing requirements and prioritizing human-based research . . . To what extent HHS will look to halt or restrict importation is unclear.”
“To [Lisa Jones-Engel, a senior science adviser for primate experimentation at PETA], the recent remarks by Kennedy and [statements made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] not only appear contradictory but perpetuates a public health risk. ‘RFK Jr. has said the goal is to move away from animal research and has specifically identified primate importation as something that should be reduced or eliminated. The CDC’s responses assume that primate importation will continue and focus on managing risk within that system,’ she said. ‘By defending the 31-day quarantine, requiring no reporting once animals leave quarantine, and placing disease control largely on importers, the CDC is treating primate importation as a routine practice rather than something being phased down.’” 📰 Full Story →
Congress Urges NIH on Forced Swim Tests and Cephalopod Oversight Following Physicians Committee Advocacy
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 2/3/2026
“Congress passed the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill this week, securing several important wins” that “build on recent progress at the NIH to prioritize human-based research and reduce animal use.”
“Congress acknowledged [that the “forced swim and tail suspension tests”] are knowingly banned or have been limited in several other countries due to scientific and animal ethics concerns. The final bill urges the NIH to discontinue funding for the forced swim and tail suspension tests and encourages increased support for human-specific mental and behavioral health research, including imaging, epidemiological, clinical, computational, and cell-derived approaches.”
“In the FY26 appropriations bill, Congress acknowledges that other countries have established oversight requirements for cephalopods used in government-funded research and encourages the NIH to consider developing guidance for the [sic] humane care and use. This includes the possibility of expanding the definition of ‘animal’ in the Public Health Service Policy to explicitly include cephalopods—an important step toward aligning U.S. research standards with current scientific understanding.” 📰 Full Story →
Winding down animal testing
Kelly Hooper & Sophie Gardner, Politico, 2/5/2026
“The Trump administration is advancing its efforts to wind down animal testing, aiming to transition at least one of seven national primate research centers into an animal sanctuary….”
“The NIH approached the Oregon Health & Science University, which operates one of the centers, about the move, offering to potentially help finance the transition. The university’s board of directors has scheduled a public meeting for Monday to consider negotiating with NIH about the potential change. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya confirmed the plans to POLITICO in an interview last week. ‘We’re working to transition at least one of them,’ he said of the seven centers.”
“It’s unclear whether the agency will pursue similar moves at the other six centers or why it selected the Oregon National Primate Research Center. Nor is it clear how the sanctuary would operate or what such a transition would cost….” 📰 Full Story →
Non-Animal & Human-Relevant Research News: January 2026
Rise for Animals, 2/5/2026
Explore the latest human-relevant science and alternatives to animal research from the past month, including animal-free cosmetic allergen testing, AI “avatars,” mini human livers, and more. 📰 Full Story →
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