Here’s a roundup of the 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.
TRS Labs Thanks Itself for Killing Dogs, Defends Ridglan Farms
Rise for Animals, 9/2/2025
TRS Labs — a top buyer of dogs from Ridglan Farms for use in experiments and testing — is scrambling to protect its supply chain. Their defense of Ridglan isn’t about science. It’s about profit. 📰 Full Story →
Ridglan Hit With 311 Offenses Amid Industry Catastrophizing
Rise for Animals, 9/4/2025
Newly exposed records show Wisconsin regulators are set to charge the industrial-scale dog breeder Ridglan Farms with 311 separate acts of unlawful neglect and veterinary malpractice, despite industry denials of cruelty. 📰 Full Story →
1,200 monkeys held in Maryland for years released from quarantine
Scott Taylor, ABC7, 8/29/2025
“ . . . 1,296 monkeys, some being held in Frederick, Maryland, are being released to Charles River Labs after more than 2 and a half years in federal custody.”
“In its second-quarter financial report, Charles River, which purchased the monkeys – valued at $ 27 million – for drug research, states that the Department of the Interior has cleared the way for the monkeys to enter the U.S. legally . . . The huge shipment of monkeys, which arrived at Dulles Airport, was seized after claims that they were captured in the wild in Cambodia, rather than bred in laboratories.” 📰 Full Story →
Kerrville animal research lab fails USDA inspection, could face heavy fine
Christian Blood, 550 KTSA, 9/2/2025
“An animal bio-research facility in Kerrville [Equitech Bio] . . . was found to be not giving veterinary care to at least nine animals. The lab has reportedly been hit with a DIRECT violation, which is one of only two given to a United States laboratory in 2025.”
“Each of the animals listed in the USDA report are goats or sheep, and in one instance a goat was found to be missing a hoof. Numerous other instances of injuries, mainly to the feet or legs, were noted.” 📰 Full Story →
Vote by Dutch lawmakers threatened major primate research center
Martin Enserink, Science, 9/2/2025
“The future of one of Europe’s largest nonhuman primate research centers is hanging in the balance. On 3 July, just before its summer recess, the Dutch House of Representatives voted to end monkey studies at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC), located in this suburb of The Hague, by 2030. The amendment would not necessarily shutter BPRC, which holds about 950 monkeys of three species. But it stipulates that a growing share of its €12.5 million annual subsidy—reaching 100% by 2030—would go to animal-free research or the development of alternatives.”
“The narrow 76-74 victory for animal rights activists surprised many of the primate center’s supporters and has spurred an intense lobbying campaign on its behalf . . . The proposal seems unlikely to clear the smaller Dutch Senate, where it will be discussed on 9 September. But some Dutch scientists say the House vote shows that shifting political winds can rapidly erode lawmakers’ support for animal experimentation.”
“Critics of primate research applaud the move and say it’s a chance for the Netherlands to set an example . . . The Netherlands has expressed the ambition to become a ‘world leader’ in the transition to animal-free research, and a consortium of universities, institutes, and companies recently won a 10-year, €124.5 million grant for a new center for animal-free biomedical translation, named Ombion, that was launched on 7 July.” 📰 Full Story →
Canada complicit in cruelty-laden monkey smuggling
Gabriela Calugay-Casuga, rabble.ca, 9/2/2025
“Canada has imported thousands of Cambodian-origin long-tailed macaque monkeys despite evidence showing these monkeys have been illegally smuggled out of Asia.”
“Charles River Laboratories, a pharmacological research company, was called out by the Canadian Association for Biological Anthropology (CABA) in late 2024 for importing thousands of macaques into Canada after the company was prohibited from using or selling multiple shipments of Cambodian monkeys in the United States.”
“‘The CEO of Charles River made an announcement that they were looking for “friendlier governments,”’ . . . ‘It turns out that Canada was apparently one of those friendlier governments.’” 📰 Full Story →
Not monkey business: PETA and RFK Jr. find common ground
Paul Beford, Washington Examiner, 8/29/2025
“It was just pure luck that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals‘ protesting monkey ran into Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Washington this month. But Kennedy didn’t turn away, and the monkey didn’t jeer. Instead, the secretary asked to pose with the monkey and a fellow T. rex for a couple of photos, a sign of his support for limiting animal testing at national health agencies.”
“PETA and other animal rights activists have succeeded in recent years in pushing the government to cut its use of animal testing for drugs and cosmetics, and Kennedy has backed those efforts, recently announcing ‘a dramatic reduction of animal testing’ at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.” 📰 Full Story →
‘The Motion’ debates animal testing – with a sci-fi twist
Berkeleyside, 9/4/2025
“A sci-fi fable, The Motion, is a heated debate on animal testing that slips down a kaleidoscopic rabbit hole where the audience — equipped with voting cards — becomes an accomplice.”
“Chen sets up The Motion as an Oxford-style debate show, called ‘Intelligence Cubed.’ The debaters for and against a motion to ban animal testing suddenly fall into a surreal psychological experiment where they must come to a unanimous decision in order to be released . . . The audience takes part in the experiment as it happens on stage. By voting on key moments, theatergoers become participants in the ethical labyrinth.”
“The format — a debate on experimenting that morphs into an experiment of its own — forces both the characters and audiences to question not only what they believe, but why.” 📰 Full Story →
Utah State University researcher irradiated guinea pigs, hamsters beyond approved levels, killing some
Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 9/4/2025
“A Utah State University researcher exposed guinea pigs and hamsters to radiation outside of a project’s approved scope and also withheld pain medication after performing surgeries on the animals, according to a newly released report. The report from the university says 75 rodents were irradiated and notes some died, though it doesn’t specify how many.”
“The investigation found: • Between Oct. 29 and Dec. 3, 2024, 22 guinea pigs were irradiated without approval. • Between March 2022 and September 2024, 53 hamsters were exposed to radiation. USU’s IACUC had allowed irradiation, but the primary researcher applied higher doses than approved to test how much was lethal. This killed several animals. • The researcher also failed to administer required pain medication when doing embryo transfer surgeries on hamsters.” 📰 Full Story →
Former Macalester College Animal Lab Workers, Alumni, and Mental Health Experts Raise Alarm Regarding Student Stress and Coercion in Deadly Animal Experiments
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 9/4/2025
“Former Macalester College animal laboratory workers joined distinguished alumni and more than 130 mental health professionals and animal welfare experts to call on Macalester President Suzanne Rivera, PhD, and other college leaders to protect students from psychological harm and end fatal animal experiments in psychology courses.”
“Their letter, sent Sept. 4 as Macalester students begin classes, cites a new national survey that finds serious student intimidation with regard to participation in animal laboratories, as well as the risk of long-term harm to students working in the laboratory.” 📰 Full Story →
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