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NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
September 2019
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On August 22, The Washington Post published an article documenting disturbing animal cruelty and suffering at an Iowa breeding facility, where USDA inspectors found nearly 300 raccoons overwhelmed by the heat, panting and drooling, with several “in severe heat distress.” The Post reports that, although inspectors tried to confiscate some of the animals, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue blocked this effort, at the urging of an industry group.
Former USDA veterinarians are voicing concern over a pattern of the agency weakening its own oversight and pandering to their “customers” and “partners,” not regulating registered and licensed facilities as mandated by Congress. The Post also reports alarming drops in the number of USDA animal welfare citations (65%) and enforcement cases (92%) from 2016 – 2018. Members of Congress and animal protection organizations have called for the USDA to do its job, but problems persist. READ MORE »
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University of Pennsylvania researcher Dan Huh and his team have developed a model of the human eye that blinks, just as our own eyes do. Blinking keeps our eyes hydrated and washes away irritants, so this is an important part of the model. The hope is to use this eye-on-a-chip to test drug treatments for dry eye, which could save many rabbits from unnecessary suffering. Rabbits are often used in such testing, and in 2008, AAVS successfully challenged a patent on rabbits whose eyes were purposefully damaged to simulate dry eye disease in humans. READ MORE »
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It’s a question that many animal advocates have been asked. In answering this question, the author refers to a study that discovered a correlation between caring about animals and caring about other people, and concludes that “It’s the suffering, not the species, that matters to many.” READ MORE »
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SANCTUARY MOMENT:
Oklahoma Primate Sanctuary
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Pushkin was released from a lab and now enjoys the flowers in his enclosure.
The Oklahoma Primate Sanctuary (OPS), one of our favorite sanctuaries caring for monkeys who’ve been released from labs, has received its 'Verified' certification by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries! AAVS has supported OPS (formerly Mindy’s Memory Primate Sanctuary) generously over the years, and is excited about this achievement! With so many pseudo-sanctuaries around the country duping the public, GFAS verification is a reliable indicator that a sanctuary puts the animals first, just like we do here at AAVS. OPS does a great job sharing amazing sanctuary moments on their Facebook page. Like, Follow, and keep up with the monkeys in OK! READ MORE »
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