WASHINGTON—The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that they will reinstate a plan to phase out animal testing on mammals and prioritize non-animal alternatives for chemical and pesticide safety assessments.
The move revives a 2019 policy initiated during the first Trump administration establishing a clear timeline for ending testing on mammals that was later paused under the Biden administration. Humane World for Animals and Humane World Action Fund (formerly called the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund) have worked for years—in the U.S. and abroad—to advance alternatives to animal testing, partnering with agencies, industry leaders and lawmakers. In 2019, we welcomed the EPA’s groundbreaking commitment to phase out mammalian testing and have since continued to provide scientific and technical expertise to support this advance to better and more humane regulatory approaches. Today, we welcome EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s announcement.
“We’re encouraged to see the EPA recommit to phasing out animal testing—a goal we’ve long championed on behalf of the animals trapped in these outdated and painful experiments,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane World for Animals. “But promises alone don’t spare lives. For too long, animals like dogs, rabbits and mice have endured tests that inflict suffering without delivering better science. It’s time to replace these cruel methods with modern, humane alternatives that the public overwhelmingly supports.”
In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of dogs, mice, rabbits and other mammals will continue to suffer in outdated chemical tests—having substances forced down their throats, rubbed into their skin or dropped into their eyes. In fact, many non-animal tests are already available, with many more in development and should be used as soon as possible. Compared to traditional animal testing, modern alternatives—such as human cell-based methods and advanced computer models—can more accurately replicate human responses to chemicals, while also being more efficient and cost-effective.
“For more than 30 years, we’ve worked with every presidential administration to push the federal government toward ending animal testing—knowing that transforming a system built on outdated methods would take time and persistence,” said Sara Amundson, president of Humane World Action Fund. “We led the charge to include the first federal call to end animal testing in the Toxic Substances Control Act and have continued pressing agencies like the EPA to modernize. We remain committed to holding federal policy makers accountable for adopting science that’s smarter, faster and more humane.”
Read more about this important announcement for animals and what other federal agencies are doing to reduce animal testing on our website at https://www.humaneworld.org/en/blog/.