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.
Let’s Not Get Overexcited About Any Mouse Study Used in Research
Ed Tobias, 9/8/2023
“Testing on rodents and animals is a typical early step in creating medications”, but “[t]he odds of an experimental treatment making it from mouse or monkey to human are very low.”
“‘Reporting pre-clinical research as something that’s directly relevant to people in the here and now is like pointing at a pile of two-by-fours and a bag of tenpenny nails and calling it a cottage.’ . . . No wonder some researchers joke about mice and monkeys lying and exaggerating.” Full Story →
U.S. Scientists Who Used Scissors to Kill Lab Rats Must Be Fired, Activists Say
Richard Luscombe, 9/11/2023
“An animal rights group is demanding the firing of researchers at a Louisiana university who killed laboratory rats with scissors and a blunt blade – and used out-of-date anesthetics for pain relief . . . Two adult rats were beheaded by the unnamed Tulane researchers using scissors . . . a ‘significant deficiency’ of globally recognized [] protocols….”
“When the guillotine was used, to euthanize eight other rats, the blade was found to be blunt; and anesthesia administered to more than 200 other rats was already beyond its expiration point.” Full Story →
In 200 Years of Animal Welfare Concerns, Cruelty Remains a Significant Issue, Study Shows
Monica Kast, 9/11/2023
“‘What we tend to find is that cruelty to animals today is less ‘obvious’ than it was in the past and better hidden from public view….’”
“‘If we consider the sheer number of animals mistreated today, whether in scientific research or, most notably, factory farming, the picture is much less rosy, and there is less to “celebrate” in terms of progress.’” Full Story →
Do Other Animals Dream?
Carolyn Wilke (Knowable Magazine), 9/13/2023
“Today, researchers are finding signs of REM sleep in a broader array of animals than ever before: in spiders, lizards, cuttlefish, zebrafish. The growing tally has some researchers wondering whether dreaming, a state once thought to be limited to human beings, is far more widespread than once thought.”
“It’s now known that flies, too, may flit between two or more sleep states.”
“‘We want to think that humans are the only ones who can [dream],’ . . . ‘We might have to think a little bit more about other animals.’” Full Story →
U.S. Steps Closer to Animal Ban With Humane Cosmetics Act Reintroduction
Julia Wray, 9/13/2023
“Testing on rodents and animals is a typical early step in creating medications”, but “[t]he odds of an experimental treatment making it from mouse or monkey to human are very low.”
“‘Reporting pre-clinical research as something that’s directly relevant to people in the here and now is like pointing at a pile of two-by-fours and a bag of tenpenny nails and calling it a cottage.’ . . . No wonder some researchers joke about mice and monkeys lying and exaggerating.” Full Story →
Fact Check: Did Elon Musk’s Neuralink Kill Monkeys?
Rise for Animals, 9/14/2023
Elon Musk is claiming that Neuralink did not kill monkeys during research experiments . . . except it did. Musk is also claiming that Neuralink’s experiments were performed only on “terminal monkeys” who were “close to death already” . . . except they were not. Here. we unpack the truth behind Musk’s fraudulent claims: Full Story →
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