The U.S. Army is using a model made of human cells that mimics how a lung ‘breaths’ to study the effects of COVID-19 exposure. Called the Alveolus Lung-Chip, the model is contained in clear, flexible plastic that allows researchers to observe what happens to the lung tissue in real time. In this video, one researcher working on this project commented, “With this, there is no need for animals in performing toxicological research.” READ MORE
Barney and a landmark victory
When we discovered a chimpanzee named Barney in a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) licensed zoo, he was suffering in solitary confinement on the cement floor of a cage. Without companionship or veterinary care, Barney endured severe psychological and physical distress. When he escaped, Barney was shot and killed by a park employee.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund successfully sued the USDA for failing to adopt minimum standards for the humane treatment of primates at research facilities and roadside zoos. The landmark ruling established the right of animal advocates to challenge the USDA's rules regarding the treatment of animals under the Animal Welfare Act.
It was too late to give Barney the life he deserved, but because of this ruling, many animals today are better protected. But ensuring that protection requires constant vigilance. Even now, we are still fighting, suing the USDA for failing to release public records related to the inspections of facilities housing primates.
As with every fight we take on for animals, you give us our greatest chance of success.
Thanks to supporters like you, we’ve spent the past 40 years making a difference for animals, driving stronger animal protection laws and stronger enforcement of those laws. I know that together, we’ll build on this progress until we see the day animals receive the legal protections they rightfully deserve. Thank you for standing with us.
Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
Right now, pigs are suffering and dying at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) as general surgery residents cut into their bodies to practice medical procedures. At the end of every training session, the animals are killed.
If we don’t shut down this laboratory, more pigs will suffer and die! Take action to help now!
Using live animals to teach human medicine is incredibly cruel—and less effective than nonanimal methods widely used by MUSC’s peers. In fact, 76% of general surgery programs in the United States exclusively use human-based training methods!
To turn the pressure up on MUSC, we are looking for 10,000 petition signers by Friday. Will you be one of them?
As a longstanding supporter of PCRM, you know the difference each petition you sign makes. In fact, just in the past six months, you helped us shut down four animal laboratories in programs training surgery residents!
With you by our side, we can convince MUSC to spare pigs too. Send a message now—speak up on behalf of voiceless animals—they are counting on us!
Cruelty-Free Giveaway
Are you ready to get shopping? AAVS is excited to tell you about the Leaping Bunny Program’s Cruelty-Free Holiday Promotion, featuring 50 money-saving deals from some of your favorite cruelty-free companies, including Juice Beauty, eos, Thrive Causmetics, and more! You’ll find amazing discounts, freebies, and other fun giveaways, all while you shop from the comfort and safety of your home.
By relying on Leaping Bunny to help make your holiday shopping list, you’ll make everyone happy. You’ll love the savings. Your family and friends will appreciate the extra thought you put into picking their special gift. And of course, countless bunnies, guinea pigs, mice, and rats will be happy that you support compassionate companies that don’t test on animals.
Shop the very best deals this holiday season and enter to win amazing giveaways from cruelty-free companies certified by Leaping Bunny! As the Chair of the Leaping Bunny Program, AAVS is excited to pass along these exclusive deals to our supporters. It’s our holiday gift to you!
The U.S. Army is using a model made of human cells that mimics how a lung ‘breaths’ to study the effects of COVID-19 exposure. Called the Alveolus Lung-Chip, the model is contained in clear, flexible plastic that allows researchers to observe what happens to the lung tissue in real time. In this video, one researcher working on this project commented, “With this, there is no need for animals in performing toxicological research.” READ MORE »
Over 400 cosmetics companies and brands have signed an open letter urging the European Council to stop new animal testing and uphold the existing ban on animal tested cosmetics and ingredients. Companies signing the letter include Avon, Dermalogica, The Body Shop, and Unilever. Speaking about Unilever’s commitment to this effort, a company representative said, “We will continue to work with other companies and partners...to make progress in applying non-animal approaches for science-based decision-making to protect human health and our environment.” READ MORE
"Corporations are people, my friend."
Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.
The Sustainable Action Network (SAN) is a leading global non-profit organization (a Don Lichterman non-profit organization) dedicated to building a global community....
A new bill was introduced to end testing on dogs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
According to White Coat Waste, the bi-partisan bill will make sure that drugmakers cannot poison dogs or other animals, but use non-animal testing methods instead.
The bill, Alternatives to Animals for Regulatory Fairness (AARF) Act (H.R.8736), was just introduced by Representatives Madeline Dean (D-PA), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), and Scott Perry (R-PA). Current FDA requirements mandate that drug companies must use animal testing in drugs.
“Testing human drugs on dogs and other animals is inhumane, inefficient and inaccurate. This legislation ensures that regulators allow drug makers to use the most cutting-edge, human-relevant technologies to test drugs whenever possible, rather than requiring them to rely on old-fashioned and cruel animal tests,” said the bill’s co-sponsor Madeleine Dean in an emailed statement.
Both animal activists and drug companies were excited by the change. “While other agencies in the FDA’s regulatory ecosystem have aggressively sought to leverage technological advances to eliminate their reliance on animal testing, the FDA lags behind them, the broader science community, and the American public. By not changing its outmoded approach of forcing companies to conduct unnecessary tests on dogs, the FDA not only misses the opportunity to improve safety, but also pointlessly impedes the delivery of innovative new drugs to patients who need them,” said Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, M.D., President & CEO, Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. in an emailed statement.
This is another important step to stopping animal testing once and for all. Justin Goodman, vice president of advocacy and public policy at White Coat Waste Project said in a statement, “We applaud Reps. Scott Perry, Brendan Boyle, and Madeleine Dean for introducing the AARF Act to save dogs and other animals from wasteful and cruel government-mandated experiments, allow drug makers to avoid needless animal testing red tape, and get consumers safe drugs more quickly and inexpensively, a call with particular urgency during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Animal testing is a useless and unethical part of scientific research, the testing is found to be ineffective, as 95% of drugs that pass animal tests fail on humans. Numerous companies are standing up against animal testing and recently the USDA made a decision to eliminate some mammalian testing by 2025 but there’s more to be done and it’s time countries ban animal experimentation altogether as it hurts humans as well.
Animals in Laboratories Need YouWe're down to the final hours of our "Stop Animal Testing" challenge, and we still haven't reached our goal. Will you make a special gift that will DOUBLE in impact for animals in laboratories? Please don't turn away from the cats confined to cages, intentionally mutilated or brain-damaged, and tormented or killed for the sake of crude tests.
Urge Pharmaceutical Giant Eli Lilly to Ban the Near-Drowning of Animals
The "forced swim test" is a widely used experiment that's as cruel as it is worthless.Experimenters put mice, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, or gerbils in inescapable containers filled with water. The panicked animals try to escape by attempting to climb up the sides of the beakers or even by diving underwater in search of an exit. They paddle furiously, desperately trying to keep their heads above water. Eventually, they'll start to float.Some pharmaceutical companies have used the test when developing treatments for depression, even though it has been shown that it doesn't accurately predict whether a drug will work as a human antidepressant.
The forced swim test is bad science. It does nothing more than terrify animals and delay the development of effective new treatments for depression that are so desperately needed. After discussions with PETA US, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson announced that they'll no longer conduct or fund this cruel test. Roche also stated it has discontinued its use of forced swim tests after hearing from PETA US, PETA Switzerland, and PETA Germany.
Urge Téléthon to Stop Funding Cruel Experiments on Dogs
Breeding Pain and Misery in a French Laboratory. The dogs are genetically prone to different types of muscular dystrophy (MD), including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which is particularly severe. These diseases ravage their bodies and are characterised by progressive muscle wasting and weakness. Most dogs never reach adulthood. Some are completely crippled before they even reach 6 months old, and half endure agonising deaths before the age of 10 months.
The heart-breaking video footage shot inside a laboratory in Alfort shows dogs having difficulty swallowing, breathing, and walking as their muscles continue to weaken. Drool drips from the mouths of dogs whose jaw muscles have deteriorated. One dog had so much difficulty eating and holding down his food because of the progressive weakening of his oesophageal muscles that vomit covered his face.
Some dogs eventually lose their ability to eat and must then be fed through a stomach tube. Surviving dogs will develop heart problems as the disease attacks and weakens the cardiac muscle.A laboratory employee admitted that the dogs suffer. He said, "I wouldn't like to be in the beagle's place. The suffering is real."
Bad Science. What have these painful experiments accomplished? After decades of testing on generations of debilitated and suffering dogs, there is still no cure or treatment to reverse the course of this terrible disease in humans. So children afflicted with DMD continue to suffer.Analysis of MD studies using dogs has shown that there are serious pitfalls when trying to apply those results to humans. In fact, there are even studies that have produced the opposite results in humans. There are better ways to help patients with muscle diseases. Cutting-edge techniques, such as utilising stem cells from DMD patients to develop disease-specific cures, developing ways to grow healthy human muscle cells that could be transplanted into patients with MD, and creating human-relevant drug-screening platforms, have led to the development of more promising therapies.
Téléthon: Helping or Hurting? The experiments at Alfort are funded by the French charity AFM-Téléthon. However, a laboratory representative admits that they could lose funding if the public were to see the condition of the dogs. "There's no question that if we showed them our myopathic dogs, we would risk losing a lot of money." As well they should.Please sign our petition to Téléthon urging the charity to stop funding these cruel experiments on dogs and to support only modern, non-animal studies.
"Corporations are people, my friend."
Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.
The Sustainable Action Network (SAN) is a leading global non-profit organization (a Don Lichterman non-profit organization) dedicated to building a global community....
Following urging from the Physicians Committee, the Environmental Protection Agency announced in October a new draft policy that will allow companies to avoid conducting a painful rabbit test for new pesticides and cleaning products, saving 750 animals each year. Other Animal Tests Ended
Human Tissue Needed to Reduce Animal Use for Biomedical Research
A Physicians Committee report published in the journal ALTEX presents a strategy to increase the access to and availability of human tissue, which holds great potential for furthering our understanding of human biology and disease pathology, and for developing safe and effective medical products. Read More
Medical College of Georgia!
Last January, we launched a public campaign against the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) at Augusta University. That month, we filed a complaint with the federal government because the school was using live animals in its surgery program, which we believe is a violation of the Animal Welfare Act.
Even after the federal complaint, MCG refused to change. So we asked a group of Georgia physicians to sign a letter to the school, and we purchased three billboards to bring attention to the issue. In response to the Physicians Committee raising public awareness about this practice, MCG told reporters it would immediately stop using animals to train general surgery residents!
We could not have achieved this victory without your support! Now, MCG joins the 197 other general surgery residency programs in the U.S. that exclusively use human-relevant training methods.
Government Agencies Get Serious About Non-Animal Methods
The government is on everyone’s mind this week, and rightly so. But during this hectic time, we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss some positive news coming from several government agencies. AAVS takes every opportunity to urge agencies to reduce animal testing requirements and to instead help spur innovation that can save animal lives. So, when there are promising signals about alternatives coming from these agencies, we want to acknowledge that work.
On October 19-20, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted its Second Annual Conference on the State of the Science concerning the development and use of alternative methods, as the agency works to reduce “mammal studies by 30 percent by 2025 and eliminate all mammal study requests and funding by 2035.” Some of the topics covered at this year’s event included: progress in incorporating alternatives into regulatory testing; building confidence in data produced by alternatives; lessons learned in evaluating alternatives used in cosmetic testing; and assessing developmental neurotoxicity using alternatives.
Opening the conference, Administrator Andrew Wheeler set the tone of the event, stating, “I’m optimistic that we have the talent and creativity to develop [alternatives] for chemical testing that achieve the goals we have set, while continuing to protect public health and the environment.”
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) renewed its partnership with Emulate, a leading commercial developer of Organ-on-a-Chip technology, to study the safety and effectiveness of drugs and vaccines that could be used to treat diseases such as COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s, without the use of animals. FDA Chief Scientist, Rear Admiral Denise Hinton, stated that such research collaborations are “crucial to advancing technologies like Organ-Chips that may help identify toxicity, efficacy, and disease susceptibility earlier in product development.” READ MORE
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD) have awarded over $870,000 in grants to Axosim, a New Orleans-based company that has developed models of the nervous system for testing the efficacy and potential toxic effects of drugs. The company’s ALS NerveSim™ is the first model of its kind, developed to study the devastating disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, using patient-derived cells. The BrainSim™ platform will be expanded to enhance screening of potentially neurotoxic compounds and enable more effective drug development. READ MORE
The Oklahoma Primate Sanctuary (OPS)
The Oklahoma Primate Sanctuary (OPS) is trying to recover from a late October ice storm that crippled large areas of the state. While all the monkeys, staff, and volunteers are safe, the sanctuary faces a massive cleanup. Large trees and branches have fallen making it difficult to maneuver throughout the sanctuary to care for the monkeys, many of whom are retired from research. Because the damage is so extensive, a tree service is needed to help with the cleanup. To cover this cost, OPS has started a Facebook fundraiser. Will you help the monkeys at OPS by making a donation today? Help OPS to not just meet their $3,000 goal, but to surpass that amount!
The Oklahoma Primate Sanctuary is one of our favorite sanctuaries caring for monkeys who have been released from labs, and AAVS will be making a special grant to OPS to help it recover from the devastating ice storm and to make sure that they are prepared for the winter weather, too. Join us in supporting OPS so it can continue to provide a safe home for all the monkeys in its care. Read More and Help Out Now!
These Horrific Experiments on Animals Must End
What they do to dogs, owls, monkeys, and sparrows in pointless experiments isn’t science — it’s torture.
PETA's mission statement is that animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way: https://www.peta.org/about-peta/
No Chimp Left Behind
Relocating the 32 chimpanzees still remaining at California's shuttered Wildlife Waystation will be no easy task, requiring the participation of multiple sanctuaries and millions of dollars for new construction.
And time is running short—every day of California's fire season brings risk at their current location.
AAVS has successfully assisted sanctuaries since 2015 with the expansion of their existing facilities, and hundreds of chimps have benefitted from your generosity.
The chimpanzees at Wildlife Waystation need new homes. Please act today to ensure that they will be able to enjoy the rest of their lives in peace, safety, and comfort.
I have some exciting news to share with you. The Physicians Committee has learned that Cleveland Clinic has stopped using live animals to train surgeons!
Previously, the hospital held up to three pig labs per year to teach invasive procedures to its general surgery residents. We thank you for your continued support, which makes victories like this possible! Join our live briefing today to hear about this campaign.
Last May, I began corresponding with officials at the hospital, to provide evidence in support of nonanimal training methods, which are exclusively used for training in Cleveland Clinic’s other general surgery residency program at South Pointe Hospital in Ohio. We were thrilled when the hospital’s surgery program director agreed to reassess animal use and determined that nonanimal training methods were best.
In another development, we recently confirmed that the joint Spectrum Health and Michigan State University surgery program in Grand Rapids has also decided to stop using animals to train its surgeons!
Now, Cleveland Clinic and Spectrum Health join the 195 other general surgery programs in the U.S. that use only human-relevant training methods–like human-patient simulators, laparoscopic simulators, virtual reality trainers, and human cadavers.
Your activism and financial support are key to these victories and will ultimately propel us to success through our First, Do No Harm campaign, which will lead to the end of animal use in all medical training programs.
Please join us in celebrating these victories and in hoping that there are many more to follow. With your support, we will continue to modernize medical training. Hear more about these victories and celebrate with Dr. Neal Barnard LIVE today, Friday, Oct. 23, at 2 p.m. ET during our Mission Critical member update! Learn more and register now.
End Animal Torture in Labs!
Dogs are force-fed poison, put on treadmills until their hearts explode, and have their skulls drilled open while they're still alive. This cruelty is completely legal and happens every year in research labs across the United States.But a trailblazing new bill wants to end animal torture for research.Please sign the petition now urging Congress to pass the Humane Research and Testing Act of 2020 to save animals' lives.
This bill paves the way for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop, fund, and incentivize research methods that don’t exploit animals. If passed, it would:
Help the up to 23 million animals exploited in U.S. labs every year that receive minimal to no protection under animal welfare laws
Encourage the use of more accurate methods of researching new products and medicines, as animal testing is ineffective and outdated
Require NIH to track and report the number of rats, mice, birds and other animals used in its experiments
Sign the petitionurging legislators to pass the Humane Research and Testing Act of 2020, saving millions of animals from pain, torture and death.
Join Dr. Neal Barnard for The Next 35, a virtual celebration of the Physicians Committee’s 35-year anniversary!
We’ll look back on highlights from the past three decades and also look towards the future – the Next 35 years. The program will feature familiar faces and a few surprises, with a very special musical performance by superstar Moby.
A group of researchers in Canada are working together to create a model made of human cells that they hope will eventually lead to a treatment for COVID-19, without the use of animals. The key to understanding how the virus can spread throughout the body so quickly is to examine its effects soon after infection, but before symptoms are experienced. Researchers say this would not be possible in humans since a patient might be infected for two weeks before symptoms appear. However, by creating mini models that mimic the movement of human cells in the nose, mouth, eyes, and lungs, and then exposing them to COVID-19, researchers will be able to see how the virus works, in real time, as it invades the body. READ MORE
The Leaping Bunny Program, managed by AAVS, has recently posted its most up-to-date listing of cruelty-free companies, including those that have successfully completed its annual recommitment process.
By requiring companies to recommit to being cruelty-free in order to keep their certification, Leaping Bunny provides the most reliable and trustworthy list of companies that don’t test on animals. READ MORE
Dogs, cats, monkeys, horses, mice, rats, and many other animals are being cut open, burned, poisoned, and killed in cruel and archaic experiments.
Animal testing is a major problem. About 1,438,553 animals [Not including rats, mice and other small animals] are killed in testing each year!
These tests are cruel and in-humane.
Animals are often taken form streets or bought from shelters to become test subjects!
Just think, you could loose your pet one day and find out the animal shelter sold him/her to testers!
The tests preformed are extremely cruel. And we fund them.
Many tax dollars go to these cruel companies to make animal tests happen. we need to reduce the amount of animal tests going on, if not get rid of tests for good.
But today, you can do twice as much to help end their suffering.
Our companies are known for creating products that enhance people's lives. Through Sunset Corporation of America and its companies, we’re equally dedicated to improving lives. Our commitment extends to helping local communities, fostering better educational systems, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, animal welfare, wildlife issues and encouraging employee volunteerism.
The Sustainable Action Network (SAN) is a leading global non-profit organization (a Don Lichterman non-profit organization) dedicated to building a global community....
