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PETA, animal rights groups praise Trump admin for phasing out 'cruel tests on dogs' and other animals

13 April 2025 at 08:47

The Trump administration is receiving an outpouring of support from animal advocacy groups, lawmakers and others for recent announcements to end animal testing within programs at the FDA and EPA.Β 

"PETA applauds the FDA’s decision to stop harming animals and adopt human-relevant testing strategies for evaluating antibody therapies," Kathy Guillermo, PETA senior vice president, said in a statement.

"It’s a significant step towards meeting the agency’s commitment to replace the use of animals – which PETA has worked hard to promote. All animal use, including failed vaccine and other testing on monkeys at the federally-funded primate centers, must end, and we are calling on the FDA to further embrace 21st-century science," the PETA statement continued.Β 

PETA's statement followed the Food and Drug Administration announcement on Thursday that it is phasing out an animal testing requirement for antibody therapiesΒ and other drugs in favor of testing on materials that mimic human organs, Fox Digital first reported.Β 

FDA PHASING OUT SOME ANIMAL TESTING IN 'WIN-WIN' FOR ETHICS AND PUBLIC HEALTH: COMMISSIONER

"For too long, drug manufacturers have performed additional animal testing of drugs that have data in broad human use internationally. This initiative marks a paradigm shift in drug evaluation and holds promise to accelerate cures and meaningful treatments for Americans while reducing animal use," FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, said in comments provided to Fox News Digital.Β 

"By leveraging AI-based computational modeling, human organ model-based lab testing, and real-world human data, we can get safer treatments to patients faster and more reliably, while also reducing R&D costs and drug prices. It is a win-win for public health and ethics."Β 

Dogs, rats and fish were the primary animals to face testing ahead of Thursday's announcement, Fox Digital learned.Β 

The phase-out focuses on ending animal testing in regard to researching monoclonal antibody therapies, which are lab-made proteins meant to stimulate the immune system to fight diseases such as cancer, as well as other drugs, according to the press release.Β 

Instead, the FDA will encourage testing on "organoids," which are artificially grown masses of cells, according to the FDA's press release.

HHS AXES MORE THAN $300M IN GENDER, DEI-RELATED HEALTH GRANTS TO CALIFORNIA ALONE

Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin announced on the same day that the agency would reinstate a 2019 policy from the first Trump administration to phase out animal testing at that federal agency. The EPA said in comment that the Biden administration moved away from phasing out animal testing, but that Zeldin is "wholly committed to getting the agency back on track to eliminating animal testing."

"Under President Trump’s first term, EPA signed a directive to prioritize efforts to reduce animal testing and committed to reducing testing on mammals by 30% by 2025 and to eliminate it completely by 2035. The Biden administration halted progress on these efforts by delaying compliance deadlines. Administrator Zeldin is wholly committed to getting the agency back on track to eliminating animal testing," EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou told the Washington Times.Β 

The EPA's and FDA's recent announcements also received praise from animal rights groups, including the White Coat Waste Project, which reported in 2021 that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases spent hundreds of thousands of dollars under Dr. Anthony Fauci's leadership to test beagle dogs with parasites via biting flies.

"Thank you @DrMakaryFDA for your years of advocacy & outstanding leadership to eliminate FDA red tape that forces companies & tax-funded federal agencies to conduct wasteful & cruel tests on dogs & other animals!" the group posted to X last week.Β 

TRUMP ADMIN CUTS ADDITIONAL $1M IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR 'TRANSGENDER ANIMAL' EXPERIMENTS

"White Coat Waste made historic progress under Trump 45 to cut wasteful and cruel animal testing at the EPA and FDA, some of which was undone by the Biden Administration,"Β Justin Goodman, senior vice president at White Coat, told Fox News Digital on Sunday.Β 

"We applaud Administrator Zeldin and Commissioner Makary for picking up where Trump left off and prioritizing efforts to cut widely-opposed and wasteful animal tests.Β This is great news for taxpayers and pet owners as it sends a message to big spending animal abusers across the federal government: Stop the money. Stop the madness!"

Other animal rights groups and lawmakers praised the Trump administration for its recent moves to end animal testing.Β 

"We’re encouraged to see the EPA recommit to phasing out animal testing – a goal we’ve long championed on behalf of the animals trapped in these outdated and painful experiments," Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane World for Animals, said in a press release. "But promises alone don’t spare lives. For too long, animals like dogs, rabbits and mice have endured tests that inflict suffering without delivering better science. It’s time to replace these cruel methods with modern, humane alternatives that the public overwhelmingly supports."

PETA PLEADS WITH NIH TO STOP FUNDING FOR ANIMAL STUDY, CALLS SLEEP EXPERIMENT 'CRUEL AND HORRIFIC'

Other groups have come out and warned that there is not yet a high-tech replacement for animals within the realm of biomedical research and drug testing, and that humane animal testing is still crucial to test prospective drugs for humans.Β 

REP. NANCY MACE SAYS FAUCI 'SENT PUPPIES TO SLAUGHTER' WITH 'BARBARIC AND GRUESOME' NIH-FUNDED EXPERIMENTS

"We all want better and faster ways to bring lifesaving treatments to patients," National Association for Biomedical Research President Matthew R. Bailey said in a press release provided to Fox Digital. "But no AI model or simulation has yet demonstrated the ability to fully replicate all the unknowns about many full biological systems. That’s why humane animal research remains indispensable."

Under his first administration, Trump took other steps to protect animals, including signing the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act into law in 2019, which made intentional acts of cruelty a federal crime.

Pennsylvania gov rebuffs PETA's demands on Punxsutawney Phil: 'Come and take it'

1 February 2025 at 06:00

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro hit back at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Friday, after the activist group sent a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club promising to send them a vegan "weather reveal cake" if they agreed to stop pulling Punxsutawney Phil out of his burrow for his Feb. 2 prognostication.

"Come and take it," Shapiro tweeted in response to a New York Post story on PETA's demand.

Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro, told Fox News Digital the governor stands by his comments and said he will again make the trip to Gobbler's Knob in Jefferson County on Sunday to witness Phil's 138th meteorological prediction.

Shapiro has been on-hand for every Groundhog Day ceremony in Punxsutawney since taking office in 2023.

PETA CALLS TO END GROUNDHOG DAY TRADITION, REPLACE PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL WITH CAKE

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk told the Post that Phil is denied the traditional lifestyle of a groundhog "for a tired old gimmick."

Visitors to Punxsutawney year-round can visit Phil and his "wife," Phyllis, at the borough library. On this reporter's last visit to the area, the rodents had recently become proud parents to a new baby groundhog, as well.

While Groundhog Day is considered a national holiday and has even been popularized in the classic 1993 Bill Murray film of the same name, the day β€” and Phil himself β€” hold a special place in many Pennsylvanians' hearts.

In addition to the large ceremony in western PA, throughout the rest of the Commonwealth, many historically Pennsylvania German communities are home to a "Grundsau Lodsch" or Groundhog Lodge.Β 

GROUNDHOG DAY QUIZ! HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE FACTS ABOUT THIS UNIQUE DAY?

Each lodge holds an annual banquet or "Versommling" in honor of their totem – Phil – with "Lodsch Nummer Ains an de Lechau" (Lodge #1 on the Lehigh River) in Allentown hosting theirs annually on the February 2 holiday itself since 1934.

Nineteen other lodges based around the state have held "Versommlinge" for decades, as well.Β 

However, three β€” "#2, Schibbach" in Montgomery County, "#3, Temple U." in Philadelphia County and "#5, Bind Bush" in Schuylkill County β€” have gone defunct in recent years as the Pennsylvania German language and culture see a decline in younger generations.

A March 2024 Versommling for "Lodge #18 an de Forelle Grick" (on Trout Creek) in Slatington featured local beer on tap, a traditional Pennsylvania German supper, stories and riddles from lodge elders told in the Pennsylvania German language, and, of course, representations of Phil himself.

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Until recently, it was the custom of groundhog lodges to forbid English-speaking in favor of "Pennsilfaanisch," lest the violator toss a nickel in a donation jar on their table.

Other states' groundhogs have been less lucky than Phil, as then-New York Mayor Bill de Blasio infamously dropped Staten Island Chuck during a 2014 ceremony in West New Brighton. Chuck later died from internal injuries after appearing to land on his head.

With the importance Groundhog Day and Phil himself hold to Pennsylvania past-and-present, Bonder said Shapiro will continue to defend the groundhog and his tradition, and will be on hand for future wintertime prognostications in Punxsutawney.

Iceberg Hitchhikers: How Harbor Seals Choose Their Perfect Ride

11 December 2024 at 03:00
Seals on an iceberg in Glacier Bay National Park, as seen from the air.

Iceberg velocity is a major factor in where the pinnipeds choose to spend their time, adding complexity to the decision-making of the slippery mammals.
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