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 […]
SAEN got their goats: Santa Cruz Biotech put out of animal lab work
USDA-APHIS case settlement comes after Santa Cruz Biotech was caught allegedly hiding goats from inspection SANTA CRUZ, California––Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc., a major producer of antibodies, was on May 19, 2016 fined $3.5 million and appears to have agreed to abandon working with live animals. Santa Cruz Biotech was in 2012 notoriously caught allegedly trying […]
Can Tox21 robot take the gamble on animals out of toxicity testing?
Testing device uses cells instead of animals WASHINGTON D.C.––Can a robot detect substance toxicity toward humans faster and more accurately than a traditional test on rats, mice, fish, or other animals? The developers of the Tox21 robot, whose name is short for “Toxicology in the 21st Century,” are betting that the robot can outperform traditional […]
Two furors bring China draft standards for lab animals
Lab animal standards are step toward Chinese national animal welfare act BEIJING, China––A brief public comment period on draft animal welfare and ethics standards for Chinese laboratories closed on March 20, 2016. The draft standards were released soon after two furors erupted over the use of lab animals in China. Medical university dog use “In […]
Ringling elephant dies of herpes
Blow to breeding & research plans ELLENTON, Florida––The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation on January 25, 2016 lost a baby elephant named Mike to elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus––a blow to Ringling ambitions both in captive elephant breeding and in disease research. Birthed on June 27, 2013, Mike was among 26 […]
Ringling may be illegally sending elephant blood to researchers, charges SAEN
Michael Budkie writes: Re Ringling to move all elephants from the circus ring into cancer research by May 2016, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus may be violating federal law by providing research material to the University of Utah from its soon-to-be retired elephants. Public records disclose that Feld Entertainment, the owner of the […]
Going bananas may save bats from killer fungus
Rhodococcus rhodochrous has killed 5.7 million bats HANNIBAL, Missouri––Going bananas may save North American bats from white nose syndrome, a fungal disease known to have killed 5.7 million bats since arriving from Europe circa 2006. More precisely, researchers studying a common bacterium that delays the ripening of bananas have discovered that it also kills fungi […]
Florida lab investigated for neglect that killed a monkey
Water was withheld from monkeys overnight TAMPA, PORTLAND, ST. LOUIS––The University of South Florida police department has reportedly opened an investigation into whether criminal acts were committed when water was withheld from monkeys overnight in April 2013 and three times in December 2013. “At least one primate died, and […]