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.
Rescued Beagles Reunite, One Year Later
Brian Hill
August 26, 2023
“The South Elgin-based shelter hosted ‘Envigo Beagle Reunion: From Number to Name’ . . . The title refers to numbers tattooed inside the ear of each dog when they were rescued from a research facility last year.” Full Story →
Nearly 6,000 Monkeys Flown Into UK For Lab Testing Over Three Years in Cruel Practice
Nada Farhoud
August 27, 2023
“Campaigners say these primates have to undergo long and stressful journeys starting in Africa and Asia –some kept in stopover spots in Europe – before being sent to labs in the UK.”
“Globally, the long-tailed macaque is the most heavily traded primate and the most widely used in research. Experiments to assess their reactions to drugs involve restraining them and injecting them or force-feeding them through a tube.” Full Story →
Is An End to Using Imperiled Horseshoe Crabs for U.S. Drug Testing in Sight?
Freda Kreier
August 25, 2023
“On 22 August, the U.S. Pharmacopoeia (USP)—a nongovernmental organization that helps set industry testing standards—published draft guidelines on using synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood. The move could help reduce the need to harvest blood from hundreds of thousands of crabs each year, a practice that kills up to 30% of the captured animals. That has put at risk U.S. populations of the 445-million-year-old arthropods, as well as the migratory shorebirds that feed on horseshoe crab eggs, conservationists say.” Full Story →
Monkeys Gone From FDA Lab Near Pine Bluff – For Now
Bill Bowden
August 30, 2023
“ . . . a federal toxicology lab near Pine Bluff is currently bereft of monkeys. But the U.S. [FDA] says it could just be a temporary condition.”
“Last year, the Arkansas lab had a total of 60 monkeys, 35 of which were used in painful testing….” Full Story →
“Rat Trap”: Why Animal Models of Human Disease Must Be Replaced
Marc Bekoff, Ph.D.
August 30, 2023
“‘A lot of evidence has accumulated in the scientific literature [that] . . . points to the human suffering that results from animal research. Humans suffer because animal research is unable to reliably ensure the safety of new medicines and because it’s unable to generate safe and effective treatments for even our most common diseases . . . Many books about animal research are about the suffering of animals. This is certainly a legitimate area of concern, but I wanted to show that humans also suffer as a result of animal research.’” Full Story →
Let’s Show We CARE About Animals in Labs
Rise for Animals
August 31, 2023
The Better Collaboration, Accountability, and Regulatory Enforcement (CARE) for Animals Act of 2023 is a bipartisan federal bill that has the potential to impact animals trapped in laboratories. At the link, learn about this bill and take action to urge your legislators to support it. Full Story →