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The US Food and Drug Administration will now permit certain animals used in experiments to retire and be adopted rather than face euthanasia, according to internal documents reviewed by The Hill. Although the policy changed in November, there have not been any public statements from the agency.
According to The Hill, the FDA used nearly 2,000 animals in medical testing during 2018.
The National Institutes of Health and Veterans Affairs have already adopted policies to rehome retired lab animals. Despite steps taken by individual agencies to rehome animals, there are no mandates that apply to all federally funded research. Currently, there is bipartisan Congressional support for doing so.
House Resolution 2897, named the Animal Freedom from Testing, Experiments, and Research (AFTER) Act of 2019, was introduced to the House of Representatives in May 2019 by Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-PA). This bill would amend the Animal Welfare ...