Latest news with #ethicaltreatment
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Casey Affleck backs Massachusetts bill to protect baby monkeys
Casey Affleck is throwing his weight behind a pending bill in the Massachusetts legislature that would prevent infant primates from being removed from their mothers for research, experimentation and product testing. The bill was filed by state Sen. Joan Lovely, D-2nd Essex, before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Affleck's letter is addressed to the chairs of that committee, state Sen. Lydia Edwards, D-3rd Suffolk, and state Rep. Michael S. Day, D-31st Middlesex. Affleck's letter refers to one Massachusetts lab where infant rhesus macaques are taken away from their mothers at birth for what he describes as 'the sole purpose of deliberately interfering with their visual development by sewing the baby monkeys' eyelids shut or forcing them to live in strobe-like lighting conditions.' People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, described a lab at Harvard where newborns were forced to wear disorienting goggles for 18 months. Federal funding for those experiments was terminated, but PETA said it was concerned they could start again without a law on the books. Affleck has been a supporter of PETA in the past. In 2021, he and his mother joined PETA at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to protest animal testing at a laboratory there. Affleck calls for Edwards and Day to lend their 'full support to the groundbreaking bill.' 'As a parent myself and someone who is close to my own mom, I find these sorts of experiments especially devastating,' Affleck wrote. 'As disgusted as I am to learn this was happening at all, I am grateful that Massachusetts leadership is working to make sure this horrific practice never happens again in the state.' The Oscar-winning actor is a Massachusetts native. A hearing on Lovely's bill was held Tuesday before the joint committee. More News Brockton man found guilty of first-degree murder in 2021 fatal stabbing Mass. lawmakers announce pay raise deal for bar advocates Major retail brand makes a comeback after 2023 bankruptcy Teen boy facing criminal charge after prosecutors say he attacked best friend in Boston Oscar-winning actress pursues Master's degree at Harvard Read the original article on MassLive. Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
18-07-2025
- Health
- Fox News
PETA applauds GOP lawmakers' demand to halt NIH funding for 'cruel' overseas animal testing
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is applauding a letter sent Thursday by Republican lawmakers to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, urging the agency to stop using taxpayer dollars for experiments on animals conducted in foreign laboratories. The letter, signed by Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., highlights concerns about the lack of oversight and inadequate standards in certain foreign facilities. The bipartisan Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas (CARGO) Act—led by the Republicans along with Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.—seeks to end NIH funding for animal experiments outside the U.S. and ensure taxpayer dollars are not misused for the unnecessary suffering of animals. Between 2011 and 2021, the NIH issued more than $2.2 billion in grants for controversial research in 45 countries. According to the letter, the "research" included genetically altering cats to be born with deformed legs, infecting bats with diseases that were transmissible and fatal to humans, and force-feeding mice human feces. Nehls and Scott noted there are little to no inspections at the facilities where research is conducted or where the animals are housed, and there is inadequate auditing of foreign NIH-funded animal studies, resulting in significant gaps in oversight and accountability of how taxpayer dollars are being used. "It is deeply concerning that American taxpayer dollars have been used to fund harmful and abusive animal experiments overseas that lack the same oversight and accountability as labs here in the United States," Nehls and Scott wrote in the letter. "…It is a waste of resources that should be allocated to more ethical and effective research practices that do not involve animals." PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo said the organization is grateful to Nehls, Scott, Titus and Booker for serving as the lead sponsors of the CARGO Act. "This effort represents a significant step in halting cruel and wasteful animal experimentation abroad, and it aligns with the Trump Administration's broader shift toward more relevant, non-animal research methods," Guillermo wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. "We are excited to continue working alongside these dedicated lawmakers to pass the CARGO Act and ensure that taxpayer money is no longer used to support pointless and unethical research." The CARGO Act was introduced following a PETA investigation into Caucaseco Scientific Research Center, a discredited Colombian laboratory with a history of violating animal care standards. Caucaseco Scientific Research Center received more than $17 million in U.S. funding, and the Biden administration's NIH encouraged additional funding, even after it was caught confining monkeys in filthy conditions, leaving them to die from infected wounds, and starving mice to the point of cannibalism, according to PETA. The PETA investigation reportedly led to multiple investigations by local authorities, the rescues of 108 monkeys and 180 mice, and the retraction of a research publication. "The letter's request for NIH to immediately cease funding animal experiments in foreign labs is a crucial step toward protecting animals and ensuring taxpayer dollars are used responsibly," Guillermo wrote. "PETA remains committed to advocating for legislative and policy changes that prioritize ethical, practical, and non-animal research."
