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.
Exposé of Colombian Vivisection Lab Sparks Call to Pass the New CARGO Act
Jodi Camitjana, 9/1/2023
“This horrific Colombian lab got 17 million US tax dollars before authorities seized the monkeys and filed charges against the couple running the place.”
“The [CARGO] Act has been introduced in the House of Representatives . . . ‘what it does is completely cut off U.S. funding for experiments on animals in foreign countries….’” Full Story →
A New Path to New Drugs: Finding Alternatives to Animal Testing
Science, 9/1/2023
“‘The costs [of animal research] in time, funding and life,’ . . . ‘are incongruous to outcomes related to the ultimate goal of protecting humans.’ These outcomes include a ~90% failure rate of drug candidates . . . The common denominator in these trials was the prerequisite evaluation of the drug in animals that failed to appropriately model human physiology.”
“‘Non-animal alternative methods either under development or currently available allow a more physiologically relevant approach to evaluating drug-specific outcomes.’” Full Story →
USDA Cites University of Kentucky After Alpaca Dies in Campus Facility
Monica Kast, 9/1//2023
“The University of Kentucky has been cited by the [USDA] after an incident earlier this year led to the death of an animal used in a university research project.”
“Alpacas make a unique antibody called nanobodies, which has been used in a variety of medical treatments and research….” Full Story →
Decoding Decision-Making: Insect Brains Are More Complex Than We Thought
Anna Euteneuer, 9/2/2023
“Contrary to the long-standing belief that insects react purely on stimulus-response, the study shows that they can actually make nuanced decisions based on experiences.”
“In invertebrate insects and mammals – and thus also humans – the necessary processes of the nervous system follow similar basic principles in many respects.” Full Story →
Do Animals Have Culture?
Michael E. W. Varnum, Ph.D., 9/5/2023
“In psychology, culture is often discussed as a fairly unique human capacity . . . But . . . the more we study other species, the less unique we appear to be.”
“And it’s not just mammals that have been shown to have the ability to transmit cultural practices.”
“Humans in different parts of the world speak different languages, cook food differently, and use different tools to accomplish tasks. So too, it seems, do many of our relatives in the animal kingdom, from chimpanzees to bumblebees.” Full Story →
Fact Check: Are We Slowing Down Medical Research?
Rise for Animals, August 31, 2023
Without ethics or facts on their side, the National Association of Biomedical Research (“NABR”) and its sister organization, the Foundation for Biomedical Research (“FBR”), continue self-advocacy predicated on nothing but propaganda. In a Washington Times opinion piece, NABR and FBR President Matthew Bailey submits a host of wholly unfactual and strategically misleading claims. Now, we’re fact-checking. Full Story →
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