Here we go again, ‘Euthanised’, and not ‘Murdered With Intent’.

Hundreds of lab animals left behind following the Trump Administrations ‘Health and Human Services’ cuts have reportedly been Euthanised.

Of the more than 900 animals located at a West Virginia based National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health facility; more than a third were murdered with intent there last week following Trump Administration layoffs.

Now scientists warn that this concerning outcome could happen again as the National Institutes for Health caps indirect costs, including facilities and administration costs.

‘If the animals can’t be fed and cared for properly, then they are going to have to be sacrificed’ said Dr. Paul Locke; an environmental health scientist, attorney and professor at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. ‘And that to me is just a parade of horribles’.

Some may tell you that this culling is necessary as it means that animal research is going to end; but this is simply not the case. Animal research will not end, it will simply go elsewhere.

Where it would go remains to be seen said Dr. Locke; but the future for animal testing is ‘murky’. Locke said his guess is that it could continue in US, but in a way where it escapes protection and there is a lot less protection for the animals.

Animal groups dispute the claim that lab animals are such a critical part of US health research.

The failure rates for treatments for cancers, for sepsis and for Alzheimers disease go on and fail in humans, because they are tested originally on animals; ie different species !

The simple facts are biological – human biology is different to animal biology. There needs to be a transition away from animal testing while alternatives are developed.