Animals 24-7

News on dogs, cats, horses, wildlife, zoonoses, & nature

Hearts out of place: transplants, pigs, chickens, “victories” & McDonald’s

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If “victories” for farmed animals meant beans,  that would be a substantial improvement BALTIMORE,  Maryland;  WASHINGTON D.C.––David Bennett,  57,  who on January 7,  2022 became the first human to receive a heart transplanted from a genetically-modified pig,  died on March 8,  2022 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine hospital. “The biggest barrier to […]

The Five Piggies of the Apocalypse, by John Robins

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Will pig-to-human transplants cause farmers to grow hearts? [John Robins is director of Ethical Promotions Ltd and Campaigns Consultant to Animal Concern,  incorporating the Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society,  founded in 1876.] How much is a pig worth?  A farmer in Fife producing free-range organically grown animals for the top end of the meat market might expect […]

Are pigs among our closest kin? Heart transplant revives debate

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Ethics,  genetics,  & relationship of pigs to humans             BALTIMORE, Maryland––The world’s first pig-to-human heart transplant,  performed on January 7,  2022 at the University of Maryland Medical Center,  may or may not extend the life of transplant recipient David Bennett,  57. Certainly it shortened the life of the pig,  trucked five hours from a company […]

The Body Shop to go “100% vegan” by 2023––but wasn’t it already?

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Expanding the gulf between image and reality is what the cosmetics industry is all about             LONDON, U.K.––Cosmetics and personal care industry media are abuzz with the June 1,  2021 announcement by The Body Shop that every product it offers will be 100% vegan by the end of 2023. Many consumers,  on the other hand,  […]

In Defense of Animals founder Elliot Katz dies at 86

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Animal rights movement pioneer             SAN RAFAEL,  California–– In Defense of Animals founder Elliot Katz,  DVM,  “died peacefully on March 24th at the age of 86,”  the organization announced via Facebook on April 9,  2021,  after word of Katz’s death had percolated through the animal advocacy community for several days. “Dr. Katz was a trailblazer […]

China keeps a promise on behalf of animals used in cosmetics testing

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Chinese-made beauty & personal care products were already exempt from animal testing requirements.  Now most imported beauty & personal care products are exempt as well. BEIJING––The National Medical Products Administration of China on March 4,  2021 quietly kept an eight-year-old promise on behalf of animals,  announcing that after May 1,  2021 it will no longer […]

Anti-vivisectionism goes to the dogs

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Or,  “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy,  except in their capacity to raise funds.” WASHINGTON D.C.––Lest there be any doubt that antivivisection advocacy in the 21st century has gone to the dogs,  the White Coat Waste Project,  the Humane Society of the U.S.,  and Stop Animal Exploitation Now in recent […]

Rabbit sperm donors may be retired from service, but not rats, mice, & birds

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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 […]

Will “monkey shortage” due to COVID-19 bring new research methods?

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Researchers scrape the bottom of the barrel DAVIS, California––Will a purported national monkey shortage force COVID-19 researchers to develop new non-animal testing methods? Or is the alleged monkey shortage really just a ploy by the seven National Primate Research Centers to perpetuate their own existence,  taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to win more federal […]

Why is Trump EPA chief cutting animal testing while the NRDC defends it?

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Natural Resources Defense Council has fought for 50 years to make EPA enforce chemical safety standards WASHINGTON D.C.––How has the Natural Resources Defense Council,  whose emblem is a polar bear,  become the front line of public defense of the animal testing industry? Why is Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler leading the most aggressive effort […]