Animals in Research

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution that calls on the European Commission to draw-up an action plan to phase out animal experiments. This is a momentous political victory in a region where recent setbacks have occurred for animals in laboratories.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

Even in our age of advanced technologies, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats continue to have chemicals and substances forced down their throats, dripped into their eyes or slathered on their skin to satisfy new regulatory demands that undercut progress against cosmetic animal testing. That’s why we put so much effort into legislative and regulatory change—removing the driver for new animal testing and ultimately banning it.

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced its version of the Fiscal Year 2022 Agriculture Appropriations bill following the House passage of its version last week. The Senate bill and accompanying committee report contain some important highlights for animals, notably for enforcement of laws including the Animal Welfare Act, Horse Protection Act and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

Today’s approval of H.R. 4502, a package of appropriations bills funding key federal agencies, offers dramatic evidence of the success we’ve achieved through our laser-like focus on the federal budgeting process.

The U.S. House of Representatives is moving forward on more of the bills funding various federal departments, and we are happy to report there are additional boosts for priority animal protection goals. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved bills covering the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Commerce, and Justice, among others.

One of our primary responsibilities as a leading voice for animals in the nation’s capital is to influence congressional deliberations concerning the annual budgets for federal agencies where animal welfare is in play. We’re off to an outstanding start for 2022! This week, the House Appropriations Committee approved a number of our priority requests in its Fiscal Year 2022 bills covering the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, State, Interior and other agencies.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block