We have posted the preview version of our annual Humane Scorecard to help you assess the position of federal legislators on our priority measures. If you do not see your senators and your representative listed as co-sponsors of key bills, we hope you’ll reach out, asking them to promptly co-sponsor them. In addition to holding elected officials accountable for their votes, the scorecard creates incentives for federal legislators to assert leadership on humane issues and take the pro-animal position on a range of actions.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The longest federal shutdown in American history has ended. The funding package that was passed by the U.S. House and Senate earlier this week has now been signed into law.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
In lethal dose tests, animals are forced to swallow, inhale or absorb through their skin a massive dose of a chemical or product until most are dying or dead. Those who survive are killed. It is hard to imagine or quantify their suffering. Put simply, lethal dose tests are as horrific as they sound, and are a living nightmare for the countless rats, mice, birds, fish and other animals used as test subjects.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Earlier this year, a 51-year-old chimp named Montessa arrived at Chimp Haven, a lush 200-acre sanctuary in Louisiana. For three decades she had undergone painful and invasive experiments in a federal laboratory. Her moment of freedom, which she shared with 20 other retired chimpanzees who finally relocated with her, was decades in the making.
By Kathleen Conlee
For more than two decades, Kathleen Conlee, our vice president of Animal Research Issues in the U.S., has been working to end the use of animals in testing and research. But before she became an advocate for animal protection, she worked at a breeding facility that supplied primates to laboratories for research and testing. In this guest blog, I’ve invited her to tell us more about how this shaped her perspective and what life is like for animals inside these places.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
At midnight last night, the U.S. federal government shut down because Congress failed to pass funding legislation for the government in the new fiscal year, which begins October 1. When a shutdown occurs, “non-essential” federal workers are furloughed, which means they are placed on temporary leave in accordance with agency contingency plans. Some workers remain to continue operations deemed “essential,” typically working without pay until the federal government reopens.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Last week at the World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Brazil, our Humane World for Animals team gathered with hundreds of scientists and policymakers to exchange insights on the latest global developments in phasing out animal experiments in favor of non-animal methods. As momentum builds for these innovations, new opportunities arise in advancing how research and testing are carried out worldwide.
Before the U.S. Senate adjourned on August 2, members advanced several key federal funding bills with significant implications for animals. We’ve been working hard to ensure the best possible outcomes – and we want to share some of the results with you, since we’re going to need your help to lock in the important gains we’ve secured.
Update August 1, 2025: The Senate passed the FY 2026 federal funding bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration with a bipartisan vote of 87-9. The bill awaits further action in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Right now, Congress is acting on its FY 2026 appropriations bills to provide funding and direction to federal agencies, and we are campaigning hard to help the countless millions of animals whose fate depends on this process.
