Press Releases

A bullfight is commonly depicted as “a dramatic struggle between man and beast,” ( 1) feeding the popular myth that bulls are fierce and violent creatures. Bullfighting spectators may agree as they witness the bull charge at the bullfighter, occasionally causing injury

Humane Society International (HSI) Europe is actively working to put an end to animal testing—permanently. In partnership with affiliates The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Humane Society Legislative Fund, HSI is campaigning globally to promote greater reliance on proven

Through owner education and hands-on care, we're helping to improve life for working equines. HSI In many developing countries, working equines serve important roles as transportation and labor. In some areas, they form the basis of the rural economy. The poorly maintained

Alternatives to the use of animals in product testing include the elimination of redundant or needless study requirements, the replacement of animal tests with non-animal methods, and the modification of animal-based tests to both reduce the number of animals used and to

A large number of laws and regulations have been enacted worldwide to control the marketing of drugs, vaccines, food additives, pesticides, industrial chemicals, and other substances of potential toxicological concern. Such regulations often prescribe a specific regime of toxicity testing to generate

In the time since the most commonly used toxicity tests were conceived, there has been a revolution in biology and biotechnology. Advances in tissue engineering and robotics have given birth to rapid “high throughput” in vitro (cell culture) systems, while emerging technologies

As public opposition towards animal testing has grown, animal use has been broadly prohibited where alternative methods are “reasonably and practicably available” (e.g., EU Directive 86/609 and legislation in the U.S. states of California [PDF], New Jersey [PDF] and New York [PDF])

Some toxicity tests consume hundreds or thousands of animals per substance examined (e.g., lifetime cancer studies consume approximately 400 rats and 400 mice; a study of birth defects and developmental toxicity consumes 1,300 rats and/or 900 rabbits; and a study of sexual

Although some animal tests in use today were created nearly 80 years ago, most have never been formally validated (i.e., assessed in multiple laboratories to see if they reliably give the correct answers). However, there is a great deal of scientific evidence