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.
Notorious Animal Rights Extremists Cleared of Waging ‘Psychological Warfare’
Hayley Dixon & Neil Johnston, 3/17/2024
“Mel Broughton and David Blenkinsop, who have both served lengthy jail sentences for their parts in bombing campaigns on animal testing labs, used tracking devices and hidden cameras to monitor the boss of a transport company and his staff . . . the pair were cleared of any wrongdoing after telling jurors that they were attempting to ‘expose offences committed against animals’.”
“Their campaigns were against companies linked to a laboratory previously known as Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), which has famously been targeted by activists since the 1990s . . . Impex was contracted to transport animals from MBR Acres, an animal breeding organisation, to LabCorp, which conducts medical research and testing using animals and is the successor of HLS.” 📰 Full Story →
Why Big Pharma Won’t Stop Testing on Lab Monkeys
Aaron Gell, 3/18/2024
“They arrived by the planeload . . . locked for up to 50 hours into reeking wooden crates, each scarcely larger than a knapsack, splattered inside with waste and blood. These were long-tailed macaques . . . among the most intelligent animals on the planet.”
“The animals hailed from Cambodia, where . . . many had been plucked from the wild . . . All were destined for research facilities across the U.S. where the creatures would be pumped with chemicals or fitted with medical devices, observed, euthanized, and dissected.” 📰 Full Story →
Activists Demand that Dane County DA Prosecute Ridglan Farms for Animal Cruelty
Bill Lueders, 3/18/2024
“About three dozen animal rights activists, and one dog . . . dropped by the Dane County District Attorney’s Office Monday morning to demand that it bring criminal charges of animal mistreatment against Ridglan Farms, a dog breeding and research facility . . . home to more than 3,000 ‘purpose bred’ beagles, raised and sold to researchers across the country….”
“The so-called criminal complaint delivered today contained a shocking accusation regarding experimentation . . . in which dogs are ‘forcibly restrained and [have] glands cut out of their eye without any painkillers or veterinary supervision.’ It said this procedure ‘is just one of numerous surgical mutilations performed on Ridglan dogs in direct contradiction to normal and accepted veterinary practice.’” 📰 Full Story →
She Bought an Animal Testing Site and Turned it Into a Rehab Sanctuary
Sydney Page, 3/19/2024
“The sale was finalized on Feb. 8, and the testing facility was shut down. Since then, [Shannon] Keith and her team have been transforming the property – which they called Freedom Fields – into a rehabilitation site for former lab animals, many of whom are scared and anxious, and have health issues including seizures, arthritis and cataracts.
“Keith’s plan is to open a senior dog center on the property, with orthopedic beds, water treadmills and ramps to help older pups who spent their lives as test subjects regain strength and learn socialization skills before they are rehomed . . . She also plans to create a space that caters to cats, as well as an education center. ‘We want the public to come. We want to take them around to meet the survivors and teach them about animal testing,’ Keith said.” 📰 Full Story →
Animal Rights Group Files Complaint Against USF Over Research Project Deaths
Trinity Sparke, 3/19/2024
“A recent federal complaint filed against the University of South Florida (USF) by a national Animal [sic] rights group . . . highlights concerns surrounding a research project that resulted in the deaths of two pigs due to post-surgical complications.”
“The project, funded by the National Institutes of Health and involving kidney removals . . . was halted following the euthanasia of the first two animals due to complications arising from an unauthorized procedure….” 📰 Full Story →
Former Weill Cornell Medicine Dean Allegedly Faked Data for Two Decades – Now PETA Is Going After Him
Marisa Cefola, 3/20/2024
“Peer reviewers identifying discrepancies in his data have accused Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi, a former Weill Cornell Medicine dean and current professor, of manipulating the results of research experiments on animals. Now, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling for the federal government to ban him from performing future experiments on animals.”
“Since 2002, nine studies authored by Choi have been retracted, and one study was withdrawn from published research journals . . . Each journal retracted Choi’s work after finding duplicate images representing data from Choi’s previous experiments, spliced images or copied images from other publications.” 📰 Full Story →
Swallow, Inhale, Apply, Inject: The LD50 Test is Poison
Rise for Animals, 3/20/24
For over a century, animals have been intentionally and routinely poisoned to test chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. These “acute toxicity” tests have taken and take many horrendous forms, but one of the most well-known — and, therefore, most contentious — is the Lethal Dose 50 (or LD50) test.
The LD50 test forces substances into animals’ mouths, noses, veins, or skin to find out what amount will kill at least 50% of them. 📰 Full Story →