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.
Top Cancer Center Seeks to Retract or Correct Dozens of Studies
Benjamin Mueller, 1/22/2024
“A prominent cancer center affiliated with Harvard said it will ask medical journals to retract six research papers and correct dozens of others after a British scientist and blogger found that work by some of its top executives was rife with duplicated or manipulated data.”
“The center, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, one of the nation’s foremost cancer treatment and research facilities, moved quickly in recent days to address allegations of faulty data in 58 studies . . . in a way that suggested deliberate attempts to mislead readers.”
“In one study, he found that an image of mice from day one of an experiment seemed to reappear in the results on day 16, in a different part of the experiment.” 📰 Full Story →
Treading Water: The Perverse Irony of the “Forced Swim Test”
Rise for Animals, 1/24/2024
In the forced swim test, a researcher places an animal victim in a water-filled container from which she cannot escape, then watches her ensuing panic and battle to survive.
Here we see a flash of the animal research industry’s weathered playbook, which touts all forms of animal research as the “gold standard” for preclinical research, regardless of how unvalidated, how unreliable, and how harmful. In fact, even the developer of the test himself has conceded that there exists a “ . . . lack of neurobiological correlation between the behaviour of animals and the effects seen in humans”. 📰 🎥 Full Story →
Botched Euthanasia of Mice at University of Michigan Raises More Concerns About School’s Animal Research
Steve Neavling, 1/24/2024
“The University of Michigan is under fire again for its handling of animal research, this time for multiple violations, including the botched euthanasia of mice.”
“. . . 11 mice were improperly euthanized, ‘leaving them to become conscious in a carcass disposal device.’ . . . ‘It is impossible to comprehend what these animals endured, waking up in a carcass disposal area, likely on top of dead animals, contained within what is likely either a freezer or a trash can.’”
“‘Projects are suspended, staff are banned from animal facilities, publications are falsified, living animals are found in the carcass disposal area, animals are denied adequate veterinary care, protocols are violated, and animals are simply lost – these are the hallmarks of the scandal-ridden animal research program at the University of Michigan,’….” 📰 Full Story →
Florida Rep. Greg Stuebe and Nevada Rep. Titus Lead Effort to Hold NIH Accountable for Cruel Animal Testing
Mike Jenkins, 1/20/2024
“Florida Rep. Greg Steube and Dina Titus (D-Nev.) Friday led 21 of their colleagues in a letter to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Monica Bertagnolli to obtain information in their efforts to curb taxpayer-funded, harmful experimentation on dogs and cats. The letter also urges the NIH to support alternatives to harmful animal testing.”
“‘On both sides of the political aisle, Americans don’t want the government conducting painful, cruel experiments on dogs and cats,’ said Rep. Steube. ‘Right now, our tax dollars are enabling these experiments.’”
“[S]aid Rep. Titus, ‘[The NIH’s] resistance to instituting safe, reliable, and cost-effective alternatives to animal testing, despite overwhelming evidence and clear and consistent bipartisan support, is alarming.’” 📰 Full Story →
Bainbridge Monkey Facility Hits Legal Snag
Lenah Allen, 1/23/2024
“A Bainbridge [GA] monkey breeding facility that was in the beginning stages of construction has hit a legal snag, but apparently is still moving forward. This comes after the Decatur County commissioners hosted a huge crowd of neighbors, concerned about the issue.”
“Decatur County commissioners admit they violated the Open Meetings Act. In short, they approved a financial incentive for the project in a meeting that wasn’t made public.”
“Residents still called on county leaders to put a stop to the monkey business.” 📰 🎥 Full Story →
Animal Testing: State ‘Not Doing Enough’ to Stop Suffering
James Wilson, 1/24/2024
“Presently in Ireland, there are close to 100,000 animals being used by scientists to test the safety of products they hope can be sold to humans. Some of these tests are for products that are medical in nature, while others are cosmetic.”
“Some cosmetic products might also be used for medicinal purposes – such as botox which is used to treat both wrinkles and migraine. Dr. Lyons believes the line is now too blurred and companies need to be upfront about what their products will be used for.”
“‘The Government needs to say, “You need to be honest whether this product is destined for medical or cosmetic use,”’ he said. ‘We could stop almost half of the suffering of animals in Irish laboratories if the Government and companies were just honest.’” 📰 Full Story →