In January 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommitted to ending tests on mammals by 2035.
There’s exciting news regarding our work to get animals out of laboratories and keep them out. The House Appropriations Committee has advanced its Fiscal Year 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Bill on a 34–28 vote, and the report language that accompanies the package promises to advance many of our priorities.
The report’s highlights include:
NIH establishes a new office to advance human-relevant research and reduce animal testing
Creation of Office of Research Innovation, Validation and Application heralds a future where scientific advancement no longer depends on animal suffering
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
For the 190 million animals used in testing and research each year around the world, the shift to non-animal methods cannot come soon enough.
We have always been determined to see a day when elected officials, heads of major government agencies, and the leaders of scientific institutions and corporations came around to the position we have held for a long time:
That we need not rely on animals to gauge the safety of chemical and pesticide products.
EPA takes additional steps to replace animal use in testing with non-animal methods
Animal welfare advocates encouraged by agency’s further embrace of non-animal methods to replace rabbits, rats and mice in chemical and pesticide testing and call for more interagency action
Update June 4, 2026: The U.S. House of Representatives passed its FY 2027 federal funding bill for the USDA and the FDA with a vote of 213 - 210. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet released its version of this bill. One positive note from today’s floor debate: the House approved two amendments led by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.)—to prevent FDA from issuing guidelines calling for dog testing and to prevent USDA from conducting or funding painful research on dogs or cats.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Over 90% of drugs that appear successful in animal tests go on to fail in human clinical trials. This is a staggering statistic underscoring that animals are biologically different from humans, and so animal-based research can be deeply unreliable, which, in turn, hinders medical progress and slows down the advancement of our scientific knowledge. Even more closely related species like mice and rats can react very differently when exposed to the same substances.
By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
Reforms to modernize drug testing continue at Food and Drug Administration
Humane World for Animals and Humane World Action Fund encouraged by newly proposed guidance to advance non-animal methods
Across the world, an estimated 190 million animals are used for testing and research every year. Many of these animals, including mice, rats, rabbits, monkeys, dogs and fish, are used to explore how human bodies may respond to chemicals. But there are major differences between animals and humans, and immense advancements in technology that hold promise for replacing the use of animals in these tests.
