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.
CITES Set to Side with Industry—Again—at Monkeys’ Expense
Rise for Animals, 3/3/2026
Animals deserve protection, not industry deference. But CITES is poised to weaken oversight of Cambodia’s endangered long-tailed macaque trade—despite evidence of laundering and impossible breeding claims. 📰 Full Story →
⚠️✍️ Take action to protect endangered macaques: Send your letter to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service now.
Non-Animal & Human-Relevant Research News
Rise for Animals, 3/4/2026
We’ve compiled all the latest human-relevant science and alternatives to animal research in the news over the last month. This time, there are 3D-printed bone models, an organ-on-a-chip initiative at UConn, a human-based lung model, and lots more! 📰 See Last Month’s Top 20 →
Punch the monkey needs more than your love
Sara Herschander, VOX, 2/26/2026
“ . . . Japanese macaques – alongside rhesus macaques, baboons, and squirrel monkeys — are among the research animals used for testing drugs and other treatments. Before Punch, there was the researcher Harry Harlow’s infamous monkey lab, where, in a 1950s study of infant-maternal bonding, baby rhesus macaques were traumatically separated from their mothers right after birth and given a surrogate monkey-shaped doll covered in a terry towel. More recently, the National Institutes of Health defunded a set of vision experiments by the Harvard University neuroscientist Margaret Livingtston that involved sewing shut the eyelids of infant monkeys.”
“You might assume that because this kind of testing is very expensive — costing up to$50,000 to purchase each monkey — and ethically uncomfortable, to put it lightly, that such treatment only occurs because it is absolutely scientifically necessary. That’s not the case . . . ‘These monkey studies divert funds and attention from the more valuable human-centered studies.”
“Making the world a better place for animals like Punch doesn’t come from views online or a visit to the zoo, but from sustained pressure for better animal welfare . . . If you would really do anything for Punch, if he activated your parental instincts like no other macaque has before, then advocating for better conditions for animals like him is probably the best place to start.” 📰 Full Story →
19 monkeys froze to death at UL New Iberia Research Center last year, USDA says
Stephen Marcantel, The Advocate, 2/27/2026
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture cited the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s New Iberia Research Center after 19 monkeys were found to have frozen to death in January 2025. . . . The monkeys died between Jan. 21 and Jan. 23, when temperatures dropped to 2 degrees, according to the document. The research center was found to have inadequate shelter for the primates, who cannot tolerate temperatures below 45 degrees.”
“The facility has been fined more than $158,000 since 2007, according to PETA, and is the nation’s largest academically affiliated primate laboratory, housing more than 11,000 primates. The organization called for the New Iberia Research Center to shut down and for the UL to switch to nonanimal research methods.” 📰 Full Story →
Cedar’s Foods Wins Praise for Signing PETA’s ‘Eat Without Experiments’ Pledge
WHAV News Staff, WHAV, 3/2/2026
“Haverhill-based Cedar’s Foods is winning praise from the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for signing on to the group’s ‘Eat Without Experiments’ pledge.”
“PETA called the new program groundbreaking and that it helps shoppers identify food and beverage companies that don’t test on animals. The Eat Without Experiments website features a database of food and beverage companies categorized by their policies on animal experimentation—from those that test on animals to those, like Cedar’s, that have signed PETA’s pledge for no animal testing.” 📰 Full Story →
More than fifty MPs, Celebrities and Organisations call for immediate closure of MBR Acres
Dave Pickering, The NEN, 3/3/2026
“In the latest blow for animal testing in the UK, and more specifically the use of beagle dogs, public figures from across politics, television, academia, and more have united to call on the Government to ‘let Britain lead the world into a future without animal testing’ and close the only site in the country breeding dogs for the industry. . . . ‘Dozens of public figures have added their voices to the open letter, and over 170,000 people have signed the petition to shut down MBR Acres. The British public is united on this and expects change at the highest level.’”
“The letter is the latest in a series of escalating campaigns calling on the Government to take genuine steps towards phasing out animal testing in the UK, as per their manifesto pledge in the lead-up to the 2024 General Election. MPs from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, SNP, Green Party, and Your Party have all signed to show their support for the campaign.”
“Currently, the fourth of five trials relating to two separate rescues of beagle puppies from MBR Acres is ongoing.” 📰 Full Story →
USDA issues critical violation at Immokalee facility after death of monkeys in overheated room
Olivia Jean, WINK, 3/3/2026
“Animal activists are calling for the closure of an Immokalee-based biomedical research facility following the death of two monkeys exposed to ‘extreme’ temperatures, a federal inspection report reveals. According to a focused inspection conducted on Jan. 30 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA], two cynomolgus macaques — also known long-tailed macaques or monkeys — were found dead on Nov. 26 inside a room at a Bioculture Group facility [BC U.S. LLC] ….”
“Inspection records show the temperature in the room was documented at 104 degrees at midnight, 98 degrees at 3 a.m., and 104 degrees again at 6 a.m. Federal regulations require sheltered housing areas to not exceed ‘85 degrees for more than four consecutive hours when nonhuman primates are present.’ Records show inspectors noted staff had been trained on what to do if temperatures dropped too low, but had not been given instructions on how to respond if temperatures rose too high.”
“‘How much training does it take to realize that if a closed room is 104 degrees, that you have a problem?’ Dr. Jones-Engel [PETA’s senior science advisor for primate experimentation] said. ‘You’re going to start seeing animals dying very quickly.’” 📰 Full Story →
Why one of the world’s biggest animal rights groups is praising Trump
Sophie Gardner, Politico, 3/5/2026
“[Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]’s kinship with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [] stems from Kennedy’s determination to end animal testing . . . ‘It’s night and day compared to previous administrations, both Republican and Democrat,’ Kathy Guillermo, senior vice president of PETA, said of the reception the group has received from Kennedy.”
“PETA has long campaigned for the Department of Health and Human Services to close down primate labs funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health that house thousands of monkeys used in medical research. Guillermo said previous health secretaries largely ignored those requests. But Kennedy and his deputies have embraced the cause, arguing that shifting to more high-tech methods of testing drugs will speed scientific discoveries and save money.”
“PETA points to real change. The NIH launched an $87 million project last year to develop standardized alternatives to animal testing. The agency entered into negotiations with the Oregon Health & Science University in February to consider shutting down its federally-funded primate lab and make it a sanctuary. . . . The CDC also plans to shutter its Atlanta-based primate research program, which involves around 200 rhesus and pig-tailed macaques that are used to study infectious diseases like HIV in Atlanta. And the Food and Drug Administration, which uses animals for drug testing, has published a roadmap for reducing animal testing.”
“While PETA has made the case on Fox News for years that NIH experiments are an animal rights issue, it’s only during Trump’s second term that the administration is making major changes to reduce animal testing. That’s due in large part to Kennedy, who has upended decades of precedent across the health agencies.” 📰 Full Story →
University of South Alabama denies association with ‘queer animals lab’; Content deleted from school website immediately after inquiry
April Marie Fogel, 1819 News, 3/2/2026
“The University of South Alabama (USA) has released a statement saying that, despite social media posts and resources to the contrary, ‘There is no “queer animals lab.”’ The ‘Queer Research Lab,’ was promoted by the Comparative Cognition and Communication (C3PO) Lab. The C3PO lab is a program of the USA Department of Psychology. The school says that despite the lab’s branding on many posts and on a resource document, it was instead the personal account of Dr. Heidi Lyn, the lab’s main researcher. . . . ‘Her use of the term “queer animal lab” was inaccurate and meant to capture the attention of viewers of her personal social media,’ the statement from the university spokesman explained.”
“‘Dr. Lyn has received no state or federal funding for any research in queer animals, and has not conducted any such research in any form,’ the school said, despite numerous posts related to queer animals on the C3PO lab’s page. Several posts . . . include the lab’s logo as a watermark….” 📰 Full Story →
Top-secret files reveal Americans were used as human guinea pigs in deadly radiation experiments
Rob Waugh, Daily Mail, 3/2/2026
“Shocking declassified files have revealed how the US government intentionally injected Americans with radioactive substances without their knowledge or consent. This happened to 18 hospital patients between 1945 and 1947, where doctors secretly administered plutonium to study how it moved through and affected the human body as part of early US nuclear experiments during World War II and the Cold War. . . . [T]he declassified files revealed nearly 4,000 federal government-sponsored human radiation experiments conducted between 1944 and 1974.”
“Eileen Welsome, who won a Pulitzer for her reporting on the experiments, wrote in her book The Plutonium Files: ‘One minute I was reading about beagle dogs that had been injected with large amounts of plutonium and had subsequently developed radiation sickness and tumors. Suddenly there was this reference to a human experiment. I wondered if the people had experienced the same agonizing deaths as the animals.’”
“Scientists at Chicago’s Met Lab wrote: . . . ‘Animal experiments were used to procure as much data as possible. Some human studies were needed to see how to apply the animal data to the human problems.’” 📰 Full Story →
Blackstone Valley Tech lands grant to buy life-size rat models
Beth McDermott, Milford Daily News, 3/5/2026
“Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School has received a grant to purchase 10 life-size rat models for its biotechnology program, eliminating the need for traditional animal dissection, according to a community announcement.”
“The male and female rat models are detailed anatomical replicas designed for educational dissection, according to the announcement. Each model features interchangeable reproductive systems, detachable organs — including the heart, lungs, liver and intestines — and a numbered key to support student learning. These tools allow students to explore anatomy thoroughly without the use of real animals.” 📰 Full Story →
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