The initiative, that’s first launched in Mysore, enables communities to learn about snakes around them and puts first aid for snakebites at their fingertips
Humane Society International / India
Shaili Shah/HSIHSI/India’s wildlife team member Anisha Iyer engages with the community members and snakebite survivors and educates them about a WhatsApp chatbot that enables them with information on snakebites, types of snakes, how to prevent a snakebite, do’s and don’ts after a snakebite etc.
Mysore, KARNATAKA—Karnataka’s first-of-its-kind WhatsApp chatbot has been launched in Mysore to educate citizens about snakes and snakebite prevention. The chatbot, launched by Humane Society International/India in collaboration with The Liana Trust, provides easily accessible information about snake species found in the local vicinity, as well as lifesaving snakebite first-aid, snakebite prevention tips, and myth-busting around misinformation about snakes that can lead to acts of cruelty.
The automated chatbot, accessed via a QR code or messaging “Hi” to +91 9154190472, disseminates engaging, visual content in English or Kannada, making it easy to understand. Through the WhatsApp chatbot initiative, both organizations aim to reach at least a lakh users this year in Mysore to foster coexistence with snakes and prevent snakebites.
India has an unfortunate reputation for having more snakebites than any other country in the world, contributing to nearly 50% of snakebite deaths across the globe. India witnesses ten lakh snakebites a year leading to nearly 58,000 human snakebite-related deaths annually and nearly 200,000 cases of morbidity, with Karnataka alone having 6,500 reported snakebites in 2023. It is also a neglected tropical disease, classified by the World Health Organization, taking a devastating toll on the socioeconomics of households and the mental health of those affected.
Many people have an innate fear of snakes for various reasons including a lack of meaningful information about them. This often leads to snakes being killed or relocated to alien habitats where they have little chance of survival. The new app addresses this information vacuum to empower local communities to take swift and informed action when snakes are encountered.
Vinod Krishnan, human-wildlife coexistence manager at Humane Society International/India, said: “Snakebite is a mass problem which requires a mass solution. As per our survey in the Mysore district, WhatsApp is one of the most used digital apps. Hence, this is an easy platform to reach many people with vital information that could save human lives and prevent snake persecution. While there is venom research and strengthening of healthcare infrastructure overall to ensure quality care for those affected, preventing a bite from occurring and knowing the right first aid once a bite occurs is crucial.”
Gerry Martin, founder of The Liana Trust, said: “As we progress in avenues of public outreach, our methods need to evolve and keep with the times. The chatbot is a great way to have a continuous dialogue with the community, assess the information they are accessing the most, and add further layers to this such as information on the nearest hospital, ambulance services and so on in the future.”
HSI/India and The Liana Trust have been working in Mysore district since 2018 through ecological studies, social surveys, community outreach, policy reform and institutional capacity building, all to aid in the development of a model district for snakebite prevention and management. In February 2024, Karnataka became the first state in India to declare snakebite as a notifiable disease.
Media Contact: Shaili Shah:9930591005; sshah@hsi.org
Humane Society International / Latin America
HSI
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica—This year, Humane Society International/Latin America has conducted three comprehensive trainings for Costa Rican authorities on how to properly handle wildlife either seized or rescued in police and judicial operations. According to the Judicial Police’s Specialized Section against Environmental Crimes, between 2022 and 2023, 534 wild animals were seized in Costa Rica.
These workshops are part of the “Improving Costa Rica’s capacity to combat wildlife trafficking” project, funded by the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and administered by Humane Society International in coordination with Costa Rica’s National Environmental Security Commission.
During the workshops, public officials learned how to properly handle seized or rescued wildlife, how to protect people involved in confiscation processes and how to feed and transport wild animals. They also learned about a new online guidebook designed to help enforcement officers identify different species and to provide them with information on legal protections, conservation status and handling techniques for different animals.
“For the Attorney General’s Office, ongoing training and inter-institutional coordination are key to environmental law enforcement. Knowing how to properly manage seized wild animals, their products and by-products, is the best way to guarantee, first, protection of these public domain assets and, second, appropriate sanctions for people who are illegally hunting and trafficking them,” said Jose Pablo Gonzalez, deputy environmental prosecutor and national environmental security commission coordinator for the Costa Rica Attorney General’s Office.
“The majority of wild animals seized or rescued in police and judicial operations have experienced captivity, stress and abuse. That is why at HSI we seek to support law enforcement authorities so that they are prepared to handle these animals in a humane and safe way, not only thinking about the animals themselves but also the safety and wellbeing of the people involved”, said Andrea Borel, executive director of HSI/Latin America.
Officials from the Ministry of Public Security (police force, national coast guard service, border police and air control) attended the workshops, as well as officials from the Ministry of Environment and Energy (the National System of Conservation Areas, the National Commission for Biodiversity and the Administrative Environmental Tribunal), the National Animal Health Service (SENASA), the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and the Attorney General’s Office.
DA NANG, Viet Nam—Humane Society International applauds An Phu Farm, a farm-to-fork food store chain in central Viet Nam, for its commitment to improve animal welfare. After dialogue with HSI, the company has pledged to phase out the purchase of eggs and pork products from farms that use intensive cage and crate confinement systems, and will apply this policy to its own pig and egg farms, with a commitment to fully implement by 2025.
An Phu Farm prides itself on being a sustainable food retailer in Da Nang with a vision to bring the best quality and sustainable products to customers. After nearly 10 years in business, An Phu Farm has six food stores, and both an egg farm and a pig farm, operations the company plans to expand in the years to come.
Discussing its commitment, Phan Anh Tu, CEO of An Phu Farm stated: “We are pleased to become the first chain in central Viet Nam to join the global cage-free movement. Our team is excited about this new journey and we look forward to working with suppliers and other stakeholders to implement this important commitment.”
Under An Phu Farm’s plan, eggs from all company-owned farms will be certified by an animal welfare certification program as the company moves to go cage-free by 2024 and guarantee that 100% of the eggs it gets from external suppliers will be cage-free by 2025 in all retail stores. The company has also set the target of becoming an animal welfare-certified pig producer that doesn’t use gestation crates by the end of 2025.
In its commitment, An Phu Farm joins companies including Pizza4P’s and Fusion hotels, among others in Viet Nam, that are working to improve animal welfare in their supply chains.
Cage-free housing for hens in egg production and group-housing for gestating sows provide opportunities for the animals to move freely and to express their most fundamental natural behaviors. Cage-free systems are a tremendous step up from the antiquated intensive cage and crate confinement commonly used in the industry. Gestation crates are barely larger than a sow’s own body and are so narrow that she cannot even turn around. Similarly, hens cannot even spread their wings or take more than a few steps in cage system housing.
Cage and crate-free housing are supported by leading international scientists and animal welfare scientists, and in response to consumer demand, companies and producers around the world are making this transition.
Hang Le, regional farm animal welfare manager for HSI in Southeast Asia, says: “Many companies and producers in Viet Nam have acted to improve the welfare of farmed animals. The pioneering commitment of An Phu Farm in central Viet Nam confirms that cage-free and group housing are the future.”
HSI works with companies and producers in various sectors, from retail to food manufacturing, to transition to higher welfare systems, such as cage-free egg production. In addition, we work with institutions to include more plant-based and protein alternatives for a more sustainable future.
Chinese fur production has shrunk by almost 90% in last decade, but millions of animals are still suffering for the UK fur market
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
A raccoon dog on a fur farm in Pulandian, China.
LONDON―Alarming footage from fur farms in north China shows foxes, raccoon dogs and mink exhibiting repetitive, stereotypical behaviour associated with mental decline and animals kept in intensive conditions including in close proximity to poultry, despite the potential for zoonotic disease spread. The animal protection charity Humane Society International has released the footage and renewed its call for a global end to the fur trade and an import ban on fur in the United Kingdom.
Fur farming has been banned on ethical grounds in the UK since 2003, however fur from countries including China is still imported into the country—a double standard that HSI/UK is campaigning to end. In May 2021 the UK Government launched a Call for Evidence on the UK fur trade, but almost three years on, officials are still withholding the results. Meanwhile, HSI estimates that the amount of fur imported into the UK from over the last five years (2019-2023) equates to approximately 7 million animals brutally killed for fur fashion, including the equivalent of around one million animals’ worth of fur imported directly from China.
Claire Bass, senior campaigns and public affairs director at Humane Society International/UK, said: “These squalid and cramped conditions on fur farms are clearly dire for the tragic animals trapped in them. What is less obvious is that the global fur trade is playing a game of pandemic Russian roulette, having already killed many millions of animals infected with COVID-19 and highly pathogenic avian influenza. As long as the UK keeps permitting fur to be imported to the UK, we are complicit in horrific animal suffering and a serious public health risk. We urge all political Parties shaping their manifestos ahead of the election to commit to ensuring that the UK closes its borders to this cruel, dangerous and completely unnecessary trade.”
Investigators visited five fur farms in December 2023 in the northern regions of Hebei and Liaoning where they also witnessed widespread use of antibiotics and the sale of raccoon dog carcasses for human consumption. There is nothing to stop fur from farms like these from being sold in UK shops.
Official statistics from China’s Fur and Leather Industry Association reveal a 50% decline in the country’s fur production from 2022 to 2023 and a decline of almost 90% during the period 2014 to 2023, consistent with an overall decrease in global fur production. The investigators observed that a significant number of the rural small and medium sized fur farms previously active in the area had closed due to poor sales. Although still the largest fur-producing country in the world, China’s trade cannot escape the global consumer and designer shift away from fur on both animal welfare and environmental grounds.
Chinese investigator Xiao Chen said: “The fur farms we visited were typical of fur farms across China where animals are sadly held in cramped, barren cages, many pacing up and down repetitively due to psychological distress. These are naturally inquisitive, energetic animals but they are reduced to this sad existence in a wire cage with nowhere to go and nothing to do. I cannot imagine their frustration and boredom, all to produce something as trivial as fur fashion. I feel ashamed to be a human when I visit these fur farms and see the cruelty and indifference of which we are capable.”
Each of the fur farms visited kept between 2,000 – 4,000 fur bearing animals in small cages so packed together that in some cases the mink or raccoon dogs could touch animals in neighbouring cages through the wire walls, making disease transfer a possibility. Despite the many hundreds of COVID-19 and avian influenza cases confirmed on fur farms globally since 2020, the fur farmers confirmed to the investigators that they don’t routinely sterilize the farms because of cost considerations. Despite not being asked by any of the farmers to abide by disease prevention protocols before entering, the investigators took their own precautions.
The food preparation areas on several fur farms showed large quantities of frozen fish, chicken meat and liver, eggs and milk powder being ground up into paste to feed to animals. In addition to contributing to fur farming’s carbon footprint, feeding raw chicken meat to animals on fur farms has been identified by EU experts as a biosecurity risk.
Veterinarian Professor Alastair Macmillan, who viewed the footage, said: “As a veterinary microbiologist, I am deeply concerned by the apparent lack of biosecurity and potential for transmission of avian influenza due to chickens and ducks moving freely between cages of raccoon dogs. That demonstrates a ready route of transmission via direct contact or faecal contamination. Cases of avian influenza have already been documented on European fur farms and such close proximity between species significantly heightens the risk of avian-to-mammal transmission. The high stocking density of raccoon dogs could also facilitate virus adaptation to mammalian hosts and the selection of virus strains capable of transmitting between mammals. The sale of raccoon dog carcasses and cooked meat for human consumption also raises concerns about the potential for zoonotic disease transmission.”
The investigation found that the most common killing method on the fur farms is electric shock applied via the mouth and rectum, although some farm operators kill mink by smashing their heads against a metal pole or beating them over the head with a club. There are a number of markets in the region where animal carcasses from fur farms are sold for approximately 2-3 yuan/kg. One local restaurant visited by the investigators offered boiled, fried and marinaded raccoon dog meat for sale to local customers for around 20 yuan and confirmed that it cooked 42 raccoon dogs a day.
Dr Peter Li, HSI’s China policy expert, said: “Because of the rejection of fur by so many designers and consumers, fur farming in China has seen a dramatic reduction in recent years. But the end of this cruel, environmentally damaging and dangerous industry cannot come soon enough.”
National polling carried out in April 2022 revealed that 77% of British citizens think the Government should ban the importation of animal products such as fur, where the production methods are already banned in the UK. The #FurFreeBritain campaign has so far gathered over 1.1 million petition signatures calling on the UK to ban fur imports and sales.
In May 2021 the UK Government launched a Call for Evidence on the UK fur trade, with the stated intention of using the findings to inform possible future action. Around 30,000 responses were submitted before the consultation closed in June 2021, but almost three years on, officials are yet to release the results, or set out a policy response.
In 2023 China produced 10 million fox, mink and raccoon dog fur pelts, a more than 50% decrease on the 22 million pelts produced in 2022 and an 88% decline from a decade ago. In 2014 China produced 87 million fur pelts—60 million mink pelts, 14 million raccoon dog pelts and 13 million fox pelts.
A study by carbon footprint experts at Foodsteps, commissioned by Humane Society International and reviewed by renowned sustainability expert Dr Isaac Emery, found that the environmental impacts of mink, fox and raccoon dog fur production significantly exceed those of other materials used in fashion, including cotton and even polyester and acrylic used to make faux fur. A significant component of fur’s carbon footprint is the vast quantity of animal products fed to carnivorous animals on fur farms.
The African elephant population has declined 60% over the last 50 years
Humane Society International
Waldo Swiegers/AP Images for HSI
WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a final rule governing import permits for live African elephants and elephant hunting trophies. This action effectively bans elephant hunting trophy imports from certain countries that serve as major destinations for trophy hunters—a win for the conservation of the species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
“Today’s announcement serves as a victory for the animal welfare and conservation movement, as this is precisely what the Endangered Species Act was designed to accomplish. The U.S. government should not be in the business of promoting the decline of a species, especially one classified as threatened under its own law,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. “Elephants are complex, family-centered animals, important within their ecosystems and cherished by people all over the world. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s move is a meaningful step toward saving African elephants from extinction.”
Since the Fish and Wildlife Service classified African elephants as threatened in 1978, their global population has decreased by at least 60% due to poaching, habitat loss and other compounding threats. Trophy hunting and the capture of live wild elephants for exhibition in U.S. zoos contribute to this decline through direct removals of individuals and ripple effects negatively impacting the overall health and survival of family groups.
“For decades the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been allowing African elephant imports without current population data, transparency or effective oversight,” said Sara Amundson, president of Humane Society Legislative Fund. “With African elephants’ rapid global population decline and the abrupt reversals in federal protections between administrations, this new revision to the regulation will help the agency make decisions that enhance the survival of the species in the wild, instead of incentivizing its decline. Considering how the U.S. is one of the world’s worst offenders in the elephant hunting trophy trade, we thank U.S. Secretary of the Interior Secretary Haaland and the Fish and Wildlife Service for taking these steps to protect endangered and threatened species.”
The new revision clarifies guidelines for granting import permits. It also strengthens the agency’s oversight capacity and the transparency of the permit application process. The U.S. imports more hunting trophies than any other country in the world, accounting for 75% of global hunting trophy imports and almost 25% of global elephant hunting trophy imports between 2014 and 2018. The revised rule heightens the criteria required for the Fish and Wildlife Service to authorize imports, including from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia—the top exporters of elephant hunting trophies to the U.S.—making it harder for trophy hunters to import their hunting spoils and for captive wildlife facilities such as zoos bring animals taken from the wild into the U.S. for exhibition.
“The agency’s new rule is a strong step in the right direction to finally gain transparency and oversight on this highly politicized and harmful trade in African elephants killed for fun and gruesome souvenirs,” said Jeff Flocken, president of Humane Society International. “We will continue to fight for a full ban on the trade in African elephant hunting trophies, and we hope this sets a precedent that can be applied to other countries and to other imperiled species, like lions, giraffes and leopards.”
Under the Obama administration in 2014, the Fish and Wildlife Service issued rules suspending the importation of elephant trophies from Tanzania and Zimbabwe into the U.S. In 2018, the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Trump administration withdrew that rule and began to allow the import of elephant trophies on a case-by-case basis, although former President Donald Trump tweeted about the trophy hunting aspect of the rule, saying he was “very hard pressed to change [his] mind that this horror show in any way helps conservation of elephants or any other animal.” Now, the Biden administration has heightened the criteria for what imports are allowed into the U.S.
In January, Belgium’s parliament voted unanimously to prohibit the import of hunting trophies from many endangered species into the country. This comes after the Netherlands instituted a ban on the import of hunting trophies for more than 200 species and France implemented a ban on the import of lion hunting trophies in 2015.
BRUSSELS―Animal protection charity Humane Society International and humanitarian agency the Ukrainian Red Cross will reach their goal of having helped 100,000 dogs, cats and other pets and 40,000 pet guardians in war-torn Ukraine by the end of 2024 since their collaboration first began two years ago. The organizations have been working together to provide lifesaving aid such as pet food, veterinary care and supplies for pets and support for their owners internally displaced or otherwise affected by conflict in Ukraine.
So far, the partnership has provided emergency relief in 14 regions across Ukraine, reaching over 19,000 pet guardians and 40,000 pets and delivering over 205 tonnes of pet food. In addition, 48 tonnes of cat litter, 3,530 litter boxes, 2,500 pet carriers and 9,000 packages of flea and tick prevention have been distributed to help dogs and cats in need. To reach their goal, the HSI/URC program will expand its outreach to three more regions, Zakarpattia, Kharkiv and Sumy, to ensure that aid reaches those in need across Ukraine.
Ruud Tombrock, executive director of Humane Society International/Europe, said: “As the conflict in Ukraine persists, both people and animals are enduring unimaginable hardships side by side. Pets are family, and in such dire circumstances they provide comfort and a sense of normality. We are grateful for the recognition by the Ukrainian Red Cross that the welfare of animals during times of war is intricately linked with the well-being of the people who cherish and depend on them. We are committed to keeping people and pets together.”
In the two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, the war has displaced over 11 million people, including 5 million inside the country, many of whom refuse to evacuate without their pets. To help these people and their animals, the joint efforts of HSI and the URC have provided vital supplies in Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi, Donetsk, Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Volyn, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Ternopil, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih. In regions such as Donetsk where congregating in centralized locations poses risks, volunteers from the Red Cross facilitate door-to-door deliveries to ensure the safety of recipients. In select districts, such as the Podil district in Kyiv, additional partnerships enable internally displaced Ukrainians to access complimentary veterinary care.
Maksym Dotsenko, director general of the Ukrainian Red Cross, said: “The Ukrainian Red Cross highly appreciates the support of Humane Society International in providing aid for pets during this difficult time. Being able to stay together with pets is so important for the well-being of our citizens, and this program is helping to make that possible.”
Humane Society International has been helping Ukrainian refugees and their pets since March 2022, providing emergency funding and supplies such as pet food, pet carriers, blankets and veterinary care.
VIÑA DEL MAR, Chile—From a makeshift veterinary hospital set up in a local school in the wildfire-impacted city of Viña del Mar in Chile, the disaster relief team from animal charity Humane Society International is helping to treat dogs and cats with distressing injuries.
Animals are brought in with painful burns to their paws and bodies, breathing difficulties from smoke inhalation and infected eyes from falling ash and debris. Animals are also experiencing dehydration and malnutrition from spending days fending for themselves after becoming separated from their families during the fire. Since the hospital was first established after the fire, around 150 animals have received treatment at the hospital, where HSI’s disaster relief team has deployed at the request of the Viña authorities. HSI will also begin search and rescue in more remote areas where they expect to find more animal casualties in need of treatment.
Daniela Sanchez, HSI’s Chile country director, who lives in the local area, said: “The majority of dog and cat casualties are coming into the field hospital with painful skin burns, breathing problems and other issues caused by direct contact with the fires or burning materials. These animals have been through a very frightening ordeal compounded by being separated from the comfort of their families, so we are also treating many of them for shock as well as dehydration and malnutrition. Every day we are seeing desperate locals coming to the hospital searching for their beloved animal companions in the hope of being reunited. We are working hard to make those happy reunions possible so that despite the devastation this fire has caused, at least people and their pets can be together again to help each other get through the trauma.”
Felipe Marquez, HSI Latin America’s disaster response program manager from Mexico, has responded to many disasters and believes that for the sake of both people and animals, there is an increasing need for climate change-related disaster preparedness as such events become more frequent and intense. According to the United Nations Environment Program, wildfires are likely to increase by up to 14% by 2030 and 50% by 2100 due to climate change and land use change which are leading to “hotter, drier and longer fire seasons.”
HSI’s Marquez says: “Millions of people and animals across the planet, including here in Viña del Mar, are victims of climate change-exacerbated disaster events. This is becoming a more frequent reality for animal rescue teams such as HSI’s which is why we focus a lot on helping communities and local authorities better prepare for the inevitable. For now though, our immediate priority here in Chile is to attend animal casualties, distribute food, water and veterinary supplies, as well as head out on search and rescue to find animals for whom help has not yet come. We know from our field experience responding to earthquakes, wildfires and floods around the world that injured or sick animals can survive for some time by scavenging a little food and water, but without treatment they can succumb to injuries and infections. So, we’re hoping to reach as many as possible and bring them back to the hospital for proper care.”
HSI’s disaster relief team comprise members from Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States. Between them they have years of experience in animal search and rescue, including during Australia’s wildfires in 2020 and the earthquakes in Türkiye last year.
Media contact: Wendy Higgins, director of international media: whiggins@hsi.org
Humane Society International and Grupo Bimbo's commitment to animal welfare and cage-free eggs: a collaborative journey
Humane Society International / Mexico
David Paul Morris
MEXICO CITY—Humane Society International congratulates Grupo Bimbo, a global leader in the food industry, for making meaningful progress toward its goal of a 100% cage-free egg supply chain by 2025. The company has also successfully influenced major producers to begin cage-free production in Mexico. For nearly a decade, Grupo Bimbo has actively collaborated with Humane Society International and other non-governmental organizations in Mexico to help facilitate their transition globally.
The market for cage-free eggs in Mexico is rapidly growing, accelerating the shift toward kinder, cage-free systems for raising hens and harvesting their eggs. Over 150 companies in Mexico have committed to stop using eggs from caged hens in their supply chains. This includes major manufacturers such as Grupo Bimbo, restaurants such as Toks and McDonald’s operator Arcos Dorados, hotel operators such as Karisma and Marriott, and many others. Where the market goes, the production follows: the volume of eggs required to fulfill these commitments requires a significant sector shift to cage-free production. Companies like Grupo Bimbo are leading the way by working directly with their suppliers to transition away from using cages to meet their pledge.
Cage-free systems typically offer hens higher levels of welfare by allowing more opportunities for expression of natural behavior such as ground scratching, pecking, dustbathing, nesting, perching and socializing, all of which are not possible in systems that house hens in cages. Hens are sentient, intelligent and sociable animals. Scientific studies have shown that they have a sense of time, can count, learn from their flock mates and anticipate the future, which in turn affects their decision-making. They experience positive emotional states and enjoy social activities.
Grupo Bimbo states, “It is important to note that we have carried out this process (achieving a 17% progress in our global target) with the support of our allies and various civil society organizations that are experts in the field, including Humane Society International, who have provided us with information and recommendations.”
Arianna Torres, senior program manager at HSI, said: “The collaborative journey between Grupo Bimbo and HSI underscores the transformative impact that collective efforts can have on shaping a more humane future. HSI has been working with Grupo Bimbo since the beginning, providing trainings to their staff, supporting road map development, bringing companies together to share lessons learned, and helping find suppliers that are willing to transition away from cages globally and throughout Mexico. Grupo Bimbo is demonstrating that companies of all sizes can make significant positive changes for animals.”
Media Contact: Erica Heffner: eheffner@humanesociety.org
Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration urges European Chemicals Agency to step up compliance with mandates to prevent animal testing
Humane Society International / Europe
Bliznetsov/iStock.com
BRUSSELS—A new paper published this month in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology by Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Innospec and other members of the Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration has exposed numerous concrete examples of acceptance barriers to companies’ good-faith attempts to honour the requirement under European chemicals law that new animal testing may only be undertaken “as a last resort.”
The peer-reviewed article, “The last resort requirement under REACH: from principle to practice,” also provides recommendations to enhance the governance and enforcement of the legal requirement established in the EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. If implemented, the AFSA suggestions would significantly advance science and animal welfare by helping to inform upcoming plans to revise REACH and develop an EU roadmap for phasing out animal testing in the chemicals and other regulated product sectors.
Members of AFSA have issued the following statements:
“This paper highlights the challenges and type of barriers that REACH registrants often face when using non-animal methods to try to meet various test requirements,” said Anders Bergqvist, PhD, head of toxicology team for Global Product Compliance Europe. “While we will certainly continue to aptly use non-animal methods, we hope that the recommendations presented in this paper will be adopted by the European Commission and the European Chemicals Agency so that animal testing under REACH, before being phased out, can be reduced to the absolute minimum.”
“All scientists must uphold the legal requirement that animal testing is conducted only ‘as a last resort’ when addressing REACH information requirements,” said Dr Carl Westmoreland for Unilever’s Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre. “To ensure that this principle is transparently applied to all proposed testing, it is essential that new science which offers advanced approaches to adapting standard information requirements is robustly applied, discussed and submitted.”
James Dawick, senior toxicology and risk assessment manager, and Ian Callan, vice president global regulatory compliance and ESG, Innospec, together said: “Innospec is very proud to have collaborated with AFSA colleagues on this important publication. As an organisation we are working hard across multiple forums to eliminate the need for animal testing. This publication provided a great opportunity for us to highlight some of the challenges and opportunities on the subject, specifically in regard to EU REACH. Innospec sincerely hopes the case studies and solutions provided in this AFSA paper serves to stimulate dialogue with key stakeholders and catalyse the necessary changes to ensure animal testing is used as a last resort under EU REACH.”
“As P&G is a founding member of AFSA, we are happy to have contributed to hands-on ingredient examples evidencing how well animal-free methods address safety questions without the need for new animal data,” said Dr Xiaoling Zhang, senior scientist and toxicologist, Central Product Safety, Global Product Stewardship for Procter & Gamble. “We hope this paper will build trust and help accelerate the global adoption of non-animal methods for chemical safety assessments.”
“We are proud to support efforts that will help drive greater acceptance of new approach methodologies to validate the safety of ingredients around the world,” said Ben Carrick, head of global public policy at Kenvue. “Through the implementation of these recommendations, we hope we can reduce the need for unnecessary testing on animals and only leverage these outdated methods as a last resort for chemicals regulation in the EU.”
“Companies should not be penalised for obeying the law and making best efforts to avoid new animal testing except as a ‘last resort’,” said Jay Ingram, director of chemicals for Humane Society International. “Chemicals, chemical regulations, guidance and regulatory compliance reviews by the European Chemicals Agency and EU Member States should facilitate, not impede, compliance with this legal mandate. We hope our publication sparks dialogue and action to ensure regulatory enforcement mechanisms are appropriately leveraged in the pursuit of protecting human and environmental health and animal welfare—a true win, win, win for everyone.”
ENDS
Media Contact: Emily Ehrhorn: eehrhorn@humanesociety.org; 202-779-1814
Notes:
Despite efforts from regulatory bodies to increase the use and acceptance of non-animal methods such as read-across, a popular non-animal approach, their use has remained static from 2016 to 2022. Given the predicted increase in the number of chemicals proposed in the EU over the next 30 years, it is vital that companies are adequately supported in the safety assessment process.
Co-operative efforts to further support the transition towards an animal-free future of chemical legislation require genuine intentions to execute the last resort requirement. The peer-reviewed article sets out recommendations for the European Commission, ECHA, and companies registering new products:
The study has revealed the redundancy of ECHA’s requested animal tests, Companies who adhere to REACH’s last resort requirement and sufficiently establish safety using non-animal methods have been asked by ECHA to reconsider their approach, being left with no option but to test on animals.
Some EU-based companies initially use animal tests rather than as a last resort, due to ECHA’s lack of provision, whereby those collecting data to register new chemicals and products face several challenges in satisfying the last resort requirement. For example, data from read-across is often rejected after ECHA reviews.
Inflexible administrative processes, non-acceptance of non-animal methods, and redundancy of testing can contribute to a fear of rejection from regulators, creating an environment not conducive to mainstream adherence of REACH’s last resort requirement.
In 2021, the European Parliament called for acceleration towards the transition to innovation without the use of animals in regulatory testing. A 2022 European Citizens initiative signed by over 1.4 million people echoed this notion, supporting the phasing out of animal testing in the EU. The European Parliament response to this initiative repeats its commitment to ‘reducing and potentially eliminating animal testing in the context of chemicals legislation’.
Humane Society International / South Korea
Jean Chung/For HSI
SEOUL—One month after the South Korean government announced a bill to ban the dog meat industry, 27 dogs rescued from a dog meat farm in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do have flown to the United States in search of loving homes. At the time of rescue in March this year by animal charity Humane Society International/Korea, these dogs—including Bumblebee, Parker, Trudy, Bruno and Mia—had not even been born yet when HSI/Korea saved their pregnant mums. Although previously too young to fly overseas, Nana, Nadia, Corbin, Covy Chico and the others are now old enough to make the journey. Mother dogs Raspberry and Zelda will also fly with their grown pups.
All had been fated to be killed for their meat as part of an industry that breeds and slaughters up to 1 million dogs a year for human consumption. They were saved as part of a 200-dog rescue when HSI/Korea worked with the farmer, who wanted to leave dog farming behind him and convert his land into a self-sufficient crop field growing cabbages and other vegetables.
With five legislative bills to ban the dog meat industry, and now the commitment of a government-backed bill, HSI/Korea says these 27 dogs are a reminder to policy makers that campaigners are counting the days for politicians to take action on a ban. The latest opinion surveys by Nielsen Korea in 2023 show that most South Koreans (87.5%) don’t eat dog meat and 56% support a ban.
Sangkyung Lee, HSI/Korea’s End Dog Meat campaign manager, helped rescue the dogs and said: “The dog meat farm where these 28 pups came from was a hellish scene. Some 200 dogs were locked in barren, metal cages in squalid conditions thick with feces, many suffering from malnutrition as well as painful skin and eye diseases. Thankfully, most of these 27 were too young to remember the trauma of those days, and it makes me so happy to know that they will soon be embraced with new names and cherished as loved family members in the United States. It’s one month since the South Korean government pledged to ban the dog meat industry, with each one of these dogs symbolising a day that we have waited for political action. We need to get this ban done so that no more dogs have to suffer for a meat that virtually no-one wants to eat.”
Since 2015, HSI/Korea’s Models for Change program has helped dog farmers in South Korea transition to new, more humane and profitable livelihoods such as chili plant and parsley growing or water truck delivery. HSI/Korea has permanently closed 18 dog meat farms so far and rescued more than 2,700 dogs who have flown to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom to find homes, with a small number rehomed in South Korea.
After arrival in the United States, the 27 dogs will be settled at the charity’s care and rehabilitation center near Washington, D.C., where they will receive the love and comfort the dog meat industry denied them, including soft beds, nutritious food, toys, veterinary care and rehabilitation. After this initial phase, they will be transferred to shelter and rescue partners where they will be prepared for adoption into loving homes.
HSI’s rescues are conducted in compliance with national and local COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Following removal from farms, dogs were evaluated by a veterinarian. They were vaccinated against rabies, distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza, leptospira, and canine influenza, and screened for respiratory illness as needed to ensure the health of each animal and comply with international export and import requirements.
