Guinea pig, hamster, & rabbit numbers also low, but monkey use was up. Mice & rats? Who knows? WASHINGTON, D.C.––Are U.S. laboratories using more animals than ever before, or fewer, at least of most species? Laboratory animal use data from 2016 released on June 9, 2017 shows record reported lows in use of dogs, […]
SAEN asks USDA to close lab that paid near-record fine
Repeated Animal Welfare Act violations found in follow-up inspection EVERETT, Washington––Citing repeated and continuing alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act by the Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories’ facility in Everett, Washington, Stop Animal Exploitation on June 19, 2017 asked USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service western regional director Robert Gibbens to terminate […]
“Change laws in legislature” say courts in chimp & elephant rulings
Attempts to stretch precedents are unanimously rejected in both New York & California appellate courts NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.; LOS ANGELES, California––The Appellate Division Court of Manhattan on June 8, 2017 ruled 5-0 against the latest attempt of many by Nonhuman Rights Project attorney Steven Wise to have chimpanzees recognized as legal persons, with […]
The Six Million Dollar Chimps
Will $6 million be enough to provide lifetime care to as many as 66 chimps abandoned in Liberia by the New York Blood Center? NEW YORK CITY, WASHINGTON D.C.––Response from animal advocates was mixed after Humane Society of the U.S. president Wayne Pacelle on May 30, 2017 announced a $6 million commitment from the […]
Why is animal use in labs up, even as public moral approval is down?
Anti-vivisection organizations claim victory while running on old momentum WASHINGTON D.C.–– Fewer Americans than ever before––just 51%, barely more than half––believe biomedical research on animals is ethically acceptable, according to 2017 Gallup polling data. Paradoxically, total use of animals in experiments appears to have soared to an all-time high, according to research funded by People […]
“Ethnic cleansing” kills 57 Japanese snow monkeys
Eugenics in the monkey house CHIBA, Japan––The Takagoyama Nature Zoo in Chiba, capital of Chiba prefecture, Japan “has culled 57 native snow monkeys by lethal injection after finding that they carried genes of an ‘invasive alien species,’” zoo officials admitted to Agence France Press, BBC News, Japan Times and other media on February 21, […]
Lawyers line up to sue USDA-APHIS over law enforcement info deletions
HSUS is first to file notice WASHINGTON D.C.––The Humane Society of the U.S. appears to have been the first organization to file notice of a legal challenge to the February 3, 2017 purge of USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service law enforcement data from the USDA-APHIS web site. USDA-APHIS deleted without prior warning […]
Near-record fine too light for SNBL labs, say SAEN, AWI, & PETA
Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories rapped for deaths of 38 macaques, among other Animal Welfare Act violations EVERETT, Washington––Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN), the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have all denounced as too light the near-record $185,000 fine and other penalties issued against the Japanese-owned company […]
Argentinian court grants zoo chimp a writ of habeas corpus
Verdict follows 2014 grant of habeas corpus to an orangutan––but writs set neither animal free MENDOZA, Argentina––A writ of habeas corpus granted on behalf of a chimpanzee named Cecelia on November 3, 2016 by Judge Maria Alejandra Mauricio, of the Third Court of Guarantees in Mendoza, Argentina, may expedite the proposed transfer of Cecelia […]
What Brexit means for “pet passports” & lab animals
Part IV of a five-part series. (See also Will U.K. leaving E.U. mean leaving animal welfare behind?, Farmed animals & the Brexit “diet plan,” Farmed animals & money talks, and Back to the Jungle Book: U.K. wildlife law post-Brexit.) LONDON, U.K.––Among the signal achievements for animal welfare during the 43 years that the United Kingdom has been […]