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.
How Even Empathetic People Justify Animal Research
Rise for Animals, 11/7/2024
How is it that so many otherwise empathetic people continue to accept, support, and even promote practices that harm, torture, and kill animals? A new study found that many humans “minimize animal welfare concerns resulting from animal experimentation” to ease their own discomfort. 📰 Full Story →
Historic Policy Change: Pharma Now Has Green Light to Save Horseshoe Crabs
PCRM, 11/7/2024
[On November 1st] “policy change [went] into effect that allows companies to stop using horseshoe crab blood in the safety testing of new products.”
“The United States Pharmacopeia, a quality standards group that indicates which tests are accepted in manufacturing, has published for early adoption a policy that now allows the use of non-animal-derived tests. This change will benefit and protect wildlife as well as improve accuracy within the pharmaceutical testing process.” 📰 Full Story →
USC Faces a $114,000 Penalty After Researchers Allegedly Neglected Three Rabbits That Died in a Lab
Kate Stuzin, USC Annenberg Media, 11/1/2024
“Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) filed a federal complaint seeking a $114,000 penalty against USC after USDA inspectors reported severe abuse of three rabbits in a USC lab. The USDA inspection report . . . detailed how USC researchers botched the eye surgeries of three rabbits”, who “suffered discomfort, distress, and pain.” before being “euthanized”.
“This is not USC’s first animal abuse case. In 2021, the university faced accusations of mutilation, unnecessary overdoses and inflicted stab wounds on multiple animals.” 📰 Full Story →
Ghostbusters’ Star Urges Wayne State University to Stop Barbaric Dog Experiments
Trinity Sparke, OneGreenPlanet, 11/1/2024
“Ernie Hudson, known for his role in Ghostbusters and an alumnus of Wayne State University, recently made a passionate plea to his former school to halt its controversial dog experiments.”
“ . . . Hudson expressed his shock over what he described as ‘painful, deadly heart failure experiments’ involving dogs at the university, adding that the cruelty of the situation was even worse than he initially thought.”
“The experiments at Wayne State, which have been ongoing since 1991, involve invasive surgeries where devices are implanted in the animals’ hearts and arteries, followed by intense treadmill exercises. Many dogs do not survive, succumbing to internal bleeding and other complications. Recently, Wayne State researchers have even started feeding the dogs a high-fat diet to bring about metabolic syndrome, a condition that increases the risk of heart issues and strokes.” 📰 Full Story →
Drunk Butterflies and Inebriated Elephants: Animals Also Consume Alcohol
Miguel Angel Criado, El Pais, 11/1/2024
“A review of current scientific knowledge highlights that alcohol consumption in the animal kingdom is more common than previously believed. Dozens of species, including mammals, birds, and insects, show a preference for fruit or nectar containing some level of alcohol. The reasons for ingesting this potentially toxic and dangerous substance range from seeking a source of calories to exhibiting disinhibited behavior, similar to that seen in humans.”
“Until the beginning of this century, even the scientific community believed that the consumption of a substance as objectively harmful as alcohol was a uniquely human phenomenon.” 📰 Full Story →
Bainbridge Residents Vow to Fight After Court Backs Primate Research Facility
AJ Douglas, WTXL Tallahassee, 11/4/2024
“ . . . the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in [Safer Human Medicine]’s favor by dismissing an appeal that moved to vacate a $300 mil. Revenue bond that would allow the company to build in Bainbridge.”
“‘With this ruling, we look forward to engaging with the local Development Authority on next steps,’ said a spokesperson for Safer Human Medicine.”
“Members of Stand Up Bainbridge GA, a more than 7,000 member group of those opposing the project . . . say they will not stop pushing against the still pending project.” 📰 Full Story →
Harvard Medical School Receives Federal Warning Over Animal Welfare Violation
Veronica H. Paulus, Akshaya Ravi, The Harvard Crimson, 11/6/2024
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued an official warning notice that Harvard Medical School researchers violated federal animal welfare laws after the school self-reported the incident.”
“ . . . an HMS primary investigator failed to place a barrier between two primate subjects after returning them to their cages. The oversight resulted in injury, according to the notice, as one primate fractured and lacerated the tail of another. ‘Harvard Medical School (HMS) failed to handle animals as expeditiously and carefully as possible in a manner that does not cause trauma,’ the notice stated.”
“The warning is the latest in allegations of animal cruelty against HMS researchers.” 📰 Full Story →
Scientists Kill 192 Million Lab Mice Each Year. Is There a Better Way?
Ross Pomeroy, BigThink, 11/6/2024
“An estimated 192 million rodents, mostly mice, are studied and sacrificed annually in labs worldwide. Scientists expose lab mice to stress, starvation, pain, and physical harm.”
“While animal research has in the past been considered essential to the drug discovery process, the reality is that roughly 90% of novel drugs that work in animal models fail in human clinical trials. That’s because rodents are not humans. Though mice and humans share 92% of their DNA and have identical genes, our bodies behave differently to the same substances. In one recent study, researchers compared the expression of individual genes within the same cell type in both mice and humans. They found that two-thirds of all genes shared between mice and humans are expressed differently.” 📰 Full Story →
43 Monkeys Escape From Alpha Genesis Research Facility in South Carolina
Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 11/7/2024
Forty-three monkeys “escaped from Alpha Genesis, a primate research facility in Yemassee” that “says it conducts research projects for government, university, and private industry clients with cynomolgus, rhesus, and capuchin monkeys.”
“It is not known how the primate escaped the facility, and Alpha Genesis did not immediately respond….” 📰 Full Story →
In case you missed it:
Researchers Exploit Monkeys in the Name of the Election
Rise for Animals, 11/5/2024
While millions of people cast their votes this Election Day, some animal researchers profited from exploiting animals in studies that yield little more than recycled insights already established in human research. 📰 Full Story →