Compliance with FDA Modernization Act 2.0 comes only after FDA Modernization Act 3.0, compelling compliance, has already passed U.S. Senate & House of Representatives WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. Food & Drug Administration [FDA] on September 21, 2026 issued a long delayed “direct final rule,” it announced, “that updates regulations to clarify that non-animal methods can be […]
Trump picks RFK Jr., Gabbard, Nesvik, Patel, & Usha Vance: hope or barf?
Trump picks with best pro-animal records are in poor position to help; those with worst records will have most influence WASHINGTON D.C.––Animal advocates, depending on priority issues, on February 12 and 13, 2025 responded with both guarded hope and anxious nausea to the latest Donald Trump appointments to senior administration posts. Among the flurry […]
Vultures circling overhead are good news for Planet Earth
Both black vultures & turkey vultures are rapidly expanding U.S. range and numbers Feeling down about global warming, chemical pollution, and reports about loss of species? See the vultures circling overhead? Both black vultures and turkey vultures are rapidly expanding in numbers and range across the U.S. Turkey vultures have even appeared in southeastern Alaska […]
Chinchilla breeder fined $18,000 & loses USDA license to supply laboratories
A small animal used in labs, but a huge step for Animal Welfare Act enforcement WASHINGTON D.C.; ROCHESTER, Minnesota––Chinchillas are very small and soft, so small that you could hold one in the palm of your hand, so soft that they have been exploited for their fur for centuries, even though from 100 to 200 […]
Animal labs get free pass on inspections; AV groups mostly don’t notice
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 […]