Deletes documents posted in response to Freedom of Information Act requests WASHINGTON D.C.––Hit with a second lawsuit, draft legislation, and letters from 119 members of Congress demanding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture restore web sites including Animal Welfare Act enforcement information, the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service has instead thumbed its collective […]
USDA-APHIS reposts less than 1% of deleted law enforcement info
More activists & animal charities sue WASHINGTON D.C.––The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service on February 17, 2017 reposted some of the inspection reports on animal research facilities that it deleted from the USDA-APHIS web site two weeks earlier, on February 3, 2014, but not enough to quell protest or […]
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 […]
NOAA suspends satellite-tagging orcas after death of whale L95
Or, could Homer Simpson retrain as a marine mammologist? FRIDAY HARBOR, Washington––Suspending all permits to satellite-tag orca whales, effective at the beginning of October 2016, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration acknowledged the death of the endangered young male orca L95, also called Nigel, with a profusion of crocodile tears and a pledge to […]
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 […]
Will U.K. leaving E.U. mean leaving animal welfare behind?
Part I of a five-part series. See also Part II: Farmed animals & the Brexit “diet plan” and Part III: Farmed animals & money talks. Part IV: What Brexit means for “pet passports” & lab animals. Part V: Back to the Jungle Book: U.K. wildlife law post-Brexit. LONDON, U.K.––Will the June 23, […]
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 […]
India drops animal welfare rep from lab oversight board
Animal Welfare Board of India chief ousted for opposing bullfighting CHENNAI, India––Crippling the ability of the Animal Welfare Board of India to monitor animal use in biomedical research and product safety testing, Indian minister of environment and forests Prakash Javadekar has removed AWBI chair R.M. Kharb from his position on the 13-member Committee for […]
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 […]