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On Thursday, July 15, the House Appropriations Committee approved language supported by CAARE to promote a National Center for Alternatives to Animals in Research under NIH, focused on developing, promoting and funding human-relevant, non-animal methods of research, and to develop a plan for reducing numbers of animals. Also included was language to require NIH to disclose numbers of animals used in federally funded experiments.

Currently, government funding and incentives for research go towards cruel animal experiments. The Humane Research and Testing Act (HRTA) was established to change that and redirect government to fund modern, human-relevant methods that offer real results without harming innocent animals.

CAARE was founded on the principle that the fundamental limitations of animal research, coupled with advances in technology, make animal research outdated, unnecessary, unethical and a hindrance to medical progress. Our consistent efforts in this area led to the introduction of powerful legislation last year to address this systemic problem.

Now we are delighted to announce that the Humane Research and Testing Act of 2021 (HRTA) has been reintroduced in Congress by Representatives Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL). If passed into law, the bill (H.R. 1744) will establish the National Center for Alternatives to Animals in Research under the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed and made accessible to the public in record time with less animal testing than ever before, yet primate experimenters are sounding a false alarm about a monkey shortage for vaccine research. Last week a prominent article ran on the front page of the New York Times business section, perpetuating a falsehood that has been circulating in the media for months.

Those who are making a profit from experimenting on monkeys are claiming that a supposed shortage of monkeys hampered COVID-19 vaccine development and that future vaccine development is threatened unless the U.S. can stockpile primates for future use.

We’re now into the second decade of the twenty-first century, but the state of modern biomedical and drug discovery is still heavily dependent on animal experiments, a technology that’s well over three-quarters of a century old.

A tangible analogy is how the phone you’re currently using employs far more advanced computer technology than the Apollo missions of the 1960s. And yet — as if stuck in some cruel time warp as old as the early space program itself — over a hundred million animals are made to suffer and die in labs each year because of an outdated mindset that considers experimenting on sentient creatures an acceptable practice, even when those doing the work readily admit its translational success to human medicine hovers around 5%.

A new study is the first to utilize a human cell-based wound closure model, resulting in novel insights into healing physiology without inflicting painful wounds on animals.

Researchers at Boston University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering teamed up with Harvard’s Wyss Institute to create an entirely human model of wound healing by mixing two types of human cells known to be involved with healing – fibroblasts and endothelia cells – into a gel composed of fibrin and collagen. Within three days, blood vessels began to grow in the model, creating vascularized tissue.

Research labs across the U.S. constantly boast about their high standards for humane treatment of animals. But a glaring blight on this claim is the omission of the greatest numbers of animals used: rats and mice. For decades this number has remained no more than a rough estimate, ranging from 17 million to 100 million, an unjustifiably vast range that accentuates how little is known.

Several new studies are successfully utilizing non-animal methods to advance our understanding of aging. Aging has been linked to the shortening of telomeres, the protective caps of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that are considered the ”Holy Grail of Aging.” Scientists believe that telomere malfunction is related to cancer and aging.  Another manifestation of aging appears to be the buildup of malfunctioning cells, known as “senescent” cells.

After more than a year of dedicated congressional outreach, CAARE is proud to announce that The Humane Research and Testing Act of 2020 (H.R. 8633) has been introduced by Representatives Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and Vern Buchanan (R- FL).

If passed into law, H.R. 8633 will establish the National Center for Alternatives to Animals in Research under the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

CAARE is excited to present our hard-hitting report “From Trauma to Treatment: Addressing the crisis in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

In comprehensive detail we expose the shocking failures of PTSD research involving animals and provide well-researched information on how to spare the lives of millions of animals by providing effective, scientifically-validated treatments to those who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).