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.
A milestone in our work to end the use of chimpanzees in biomedical research came with our success in securing the full protection of captive chimpanzees under the U.S. Endangered Species Act through a campaign to end the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “split-listing” designation. This followed our successful push in the late ‘90s for the establishment of a federal sanctuary for chimps owned and supported by the government when they were retired from research. We believed then, as we do now, that chimpanzees who had been used in laboratories deserved to experience life in natural environments among their peers.
Even after these victories, some chimps remained in a barren federal laboratory in New Mexico, but we continued to advocate for their freedom for years. Earlier this year, they were finally welcomed at Chimp Haven, where they will spend the rest of their lives in comfort and peace.
This is how change for animals often happens—it is an uphill and slow progression. That is why we are working to hasten an end of animal experimentation where advanced non-animal methods already exist, and to ultimately create a world where no animals are used in research and testing.
So far this year, we have witnessed major developments that signal real change is coming. This means fewer animals will suffer in the name of scientific progress, and it means the findings of scientific inquiry and testing will be safer and more relevant to human health.
Here are some highlights:
In July, Brazil voted to ban the sale of cosmetics that have been tested on animals. Brazil, which is one of 45 countries and 12 U.S. states to limit or ban this cruelty, is emerging as a world leader in transitioning to humane testing and research.
Several federal agencies in the U.S. announced commitments to reduce animal testing. In April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released the Roadmap to Reducing Animal Testing in Preclinical Safety Studies to help advance new, superior approaches that don’t use animals for pharmaceutical testing. The document recommended the very reforms we urged in a legal petition we submitted to the agency last year. The Environmental Protection Agency also publicly stated in April that it would rededicate itself to a phaseout of animal testing.
Later in April, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the world’s largest funder of biomedical research, announced its intent to “prioritize human-based research technologies.” This initiative involves the creation of a new office to act as a hub to ensure coordination and implementation of these efforts. In July 2025, NIH announced it will no longer develop new funding opportunities focused exclusively on animal models of human disease. A shift in the agency’s priorities from research on animals to human-based technologies can have an immediate and significant impact.
At the World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Brazil in September, we celebrated a few of the leaders behind these major shifts. This conference brought together hundreds of scientists and policymakers to discuss the latest examples of progress in phasing out animal experiments in favor of non-animal methods. Our international workshop series has also helped to build consensus around shifting funding towards human-relevant, animal-free research.
All these developments represent remarkable progress toward a goal that we have been working for since our founding. Still, it’s estimated that, worldwide, more than 100 million mice, rats, dogs, cats, monkeys, rabbits and other animals endure experiments in laboratories each year.
Animal testing is a practice that belongs in the past. While the sheer scale of this animal suffering is hard to imagine, it is even harder to imagine a world in which this wasteful and useless suffering continues. It’s time to prioritize non-animal methods that are safer, faster and more reliable—and that are more in line with compassion, and with the kinds of people we want to be.
Sara Amundson is president of Humane World Action Fund.
