belgianchocolate / CC by 2.0 We know that chimpanzees have keen intelligence and advanced cognitive skills, so it’s no surprise that scientists observing wild chimpanzees in Guinea watched them deliberately set off snare traps designed to catch and kill them (and any other passing animal)—while avoiding harming themselves. The researchers believe that this … Read more »
You think “coon on a log” is bad? Allow me to introduce you to the delightful sport of “fox penning,” in which dogs are set loose on a fox or coyote confined to a pen and allowed to tear the animal to shreds. The good news is that this despicable pastime is now banned in … Read more »
UPDATE: The University of Utah has announced that it no longer will purchase animals from North Utah Valley Animal Shelter or any other shelter for experiments! Remember the North Utah Valley Animal Shelter (NUVAS)? You know, the only animal shelter in Utah that still betrays dogs and cats by selling them to the University of … Read more »
Horrifying photos that were apparently shot inside primate importer and torture-device manufacturer Primate Products, Inc., have recently surfaced. They show the dangerous consequences of taking scared, stressed monkeys—including some who have been torn from the wild—and forcing them to live in incompatible groups in tiny enclosures. Sometimes fights ensue and monkeys suffer serious injuries. Bite Back Magazine … Read more »
Ten-year-old Bobby Connell has spent the last six months plagued by nightmares after witnessing Tilikum the killer whale batter SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau to death right in front of his eyes. Bobby’s father, in a suit filed against SeaWorld, said his son “saw the look of horror and desperation on Dawn’s face as she … Read more »
Victory Update: Following a year of vigorous campaigning, PETA has learned that government officials have grounded plans for a cruel and ineffective radiation experiment on monkeys. Learn more about this victory for monkeys. Live and let die live: So goes Sir Paul McCartney’s new hit … against NASA’s pricey plan to bankroll the zapping of … Read more »
True Blood‘s Kristin Bauer and veteran actor Gene Hackman have joined PETA, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Animal Protection of New Mexico, and other animal rights groups in speaking out against the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) plan to transfer more than 200 “retired” chimpanzees from New Mexico to Texas—where they will likely be … Read more »
We’re carefully watching a bill that was recently introduced in Congress. The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 (SCA) aims to ensure the safety of all cosmetics ingredients. Sounds great, right? I know I don’t want to smear toxic chemicals on my face or swipe them across my lips. On the surface, the SCA looks wonderful: … Read more »
Jeff Pearce / CC by 2.0 As a result of PETA’s letters, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology has issued retractions for two of the studies conducted by Gerardo L. Paez, the experimenter we told you about last week who cut out puppies’ eyes and then lied about the results. Even better, the … Read more »
Gerardo L. Paez, a former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) School of Veterinary Medicine, spent years using taxpayer money to breed puppies to have a gene that causes progressive retinal atrophy, a degenerative eye disease that culminates in blindness. During one study, 3-week-old beagle puppies were killed after they had their … Read more »
Marina Avila / CC by 2.0 PETA filed a formal complaint today with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) calling for an immediate investigation into painful, deadly, and, we believe, illegal veterinary vaccine potency tests on hamsters at Colorado Serum Company (CSC) in Denver. The persistent folks in PETA’s Regulatory Testing Division have repeatedly written … Read more »
A report issued this week by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., blasts 100 “questionable,” “mismanaged,” and “poorly planned” stimulus-funded projects, including an especially cruel and wasteful experiment that the report aptly calls “Monkeys Getting High for Science.” (No, it isn’t another Onion story, unfortunately.) The study in question is being conducted at … Read more »
Victory Update: Following a year of vigorous campaigning, PETA has learned that government officials have grounded plans for a cruel and ineffective radiation experiment on monkeys. Learn more about this victory for monkeys. But here on Earth, people aren’t only listening, they’re following you—on Twitter. Check out the following tweet from Astro_Sandy, aka NASA astronaut … Read more »
After more than a decade of scientific research, negotiations, and lobbying by PETA, PETA U.K., and other groups, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has approved new, non-animal testing methods for measuring skin irritation. Now, across the world, rabbits will be spared as the standard way of testing for skin irritation is switched … Read more »
