By Monica Armesto, West Moonah, Tasmania It started with a news story from Wisconsin. In 2025, thousands of activists gathered outside Ridglan Farms, a commercial facility where dogs are bred in industrial conditions to supply laboratories with research animals. They were there to attempt a mass rescue. The images were
Marshmallows Are Their Favorite – Undercover at a Primate Lab is an extremely thought-provoking and compelling book written by award-winning undercover investigator Lindsay Oliver. It follows her four-month covert investigation inside a large US primate breeding and testing facility. This remarkable record of the author’s time as a laboratory animal technician
Lying on the cold, steel floor, she slowly opens her eyes. Through the cage bars there are people in gowns and gloves, moving between benches, filling in paperwork. One of them glances over, sees her lying quietly, and records that she is recovering well. Sound arrives all at once —
When you hear the term ‘Animal Ethics Committee’ (AEC), what comes to mind? For many people, it sounds reassuring; a group of professionals sitting around a table discussing ethics, weighing up animal welfare, questioning harm, and ensuring animals are treated with dignity and care. It evokes the image of rigorous
2025 was a year of immense progress for non-animal models globally. Read Dr Natalie Anderson’s summary, reflecting on Australian and international highlights. Global Landscape The pace accelerated in 2025 for NAMs, bringing some massive shifts globally. The US released their Landmark Roadmap to Reducing Animal Testing in Preclinical Safety Studies,
Foetal Bovine Serum has long been used in Australian universities, research institutes and biotech companies, but comes with major scientific, ethical, and practical problems. Cell culture expert, Dr Katie Bashant Day, answers some key questions about the use and limitations of FBS, existing alternatives, and introduces a new animal-free alternative
In Part 1, we examined the structural barriers that can discourage students from raising ethical concerns about the use of animals in university courses. Some of these barriers included the weight of hierarchy, entrenched cultural norms and the subtle but powerful influence of peers. These forces are real, and they
Outdated Practices, Unacceptable Outcomes For centuries, surgical training in both human and veterinary medicine has relied on cadavers and live animals. Once the only options, these methods provided valuable insights, but they have always carried limitations alongside growing ethical concerns. Cadavers degrade, vary in condition, and cannot simulate live physiology.
Education at its best is not only the transfer of knowledge, but the widening of perspective – an invitation to expand our circles of care from self to community, to all sentient beings and to the planet we share. Yet for some students, this ideal meets a difficult reality. For
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