Harvard law student discovers animal lab inspections have been cut short since 2019 CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts––The silence from a cage of dead monkeys could scarcely be more deafening. Three business days plus a weekend of apparent near-complete non-response from the animal advocacy community have elapsed since the Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Clinic […]
Rabbit sperm donors may be retired from service, but not rats, mice, & birds
And not most rabbits in laboratory use, either WASHINGTON D.C.––Former Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler, in one of his last actions before leaving office with the Donald Trump presidential administration, “issued a January 20, 2021 directive instructing the agency to plan for the retirement of the last remaining rabbits in the EPA’s taxpayer-funded […]
Fur sales, wildlife acts, & hiding dog bite history banned in California
Fur-bearing animals & adopters of shelter/rescue dogs win protections SACRAMENTO, California––The new animal-related law in California that Governor Gavin Newsom and mass media said least about, to help protect Californians against recklessly rehomed dogs with bite history, may in the end become the most emulated among the raft of bills sent to Newsom’s desk […]
Stink over conditions at skunk & ferret “fur farm”
SAEN seeks Animal Welfare Act charges against “fur farm” that appears to breed animals mostly for laboratories & the pet trade NEW SHARON, Iowa––If the 85-year-old Ruby Fur Farm was just a fur farm, producing mink or fox pelts for the garment industry, it would not be subject to unannounced visits from the USDA […]
Fewer dogs & cats used in U.S. labs than ever before
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Ringling Bros. circus folds, upstaging last SeaWorld San Diego “Shamu” show
Last Ringling performances set for May 2017 ELLENTON, Florida––The epoch of performing animal extravaganzas drew closer to an end over the weekend of January 14-15, 2017 with the near-simultaneous announcements by Feld Entertainment that the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus will cease performing in May 2017, and by SeaWorld that the Sunday “Shamu” show […]
Dead-end WSU studies kill bears & bighorn sheep
WSU makes apparently meaningless show of response to complaints PULLMAN, Washington––Washington State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee chief Phyllis Erdman on July 22, 2016 made a show of responding promptly to alleged federal Animal Welfare Act violations resulting in the accidental deaths of grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, calves and rabbits in university […]