U.S. Lab Animal Use Decline in 2024
Recent Developments
012025-04-10: FDA announced a plan to phase out animal testing requirements for monoclonal antibodies and other drugs using AI, cell-based models, and organoids.
022025-06-12: NAVS reported that 776 facilities in USDA reporting showed 851,898 animals, or 763,026 excluding birds, down nearly 10% from 2023.
032026-01-22: EPA recommitted to eliminating mammal testing by 2035 and prioritizing non-animal alternatives.
042026-04-20: FDA said it achieved Year 1 goals in reducing animal testing in drug development, including draft guidance to reduce or eliminate nonhuman primate testing for monoclonal antibodies.
052026-06-02: EPA announced additional actions to eliminate animal testing and expand non-animal methods.
Interventions
- FDA implementation of New Approach Methodologies for drug development, including AI, cell-based systems, organoids, and reduced primate testing.
- EPA’s 2035 mammal-testing elimination commitment and related agency actions to replace animal testing with non-animal methods.
- USDA annual research-facility reporting, which continues to track the subset of covered species and facilities.
What Works
- New Approach Methodologies such as AI-based toxicity modeling, cell lines, and organoid testing are being adopted by FDA as replacements or reductions for animal testing.
- Agency guidance that reduces routine nonhuman primate testing for monoclonal antibodies can cut animal use while maintaining preclinical safety assessment standards.
- Regulatory commitments with firm phase-out timelines, such as EPA’s 2035 mammal-testing goal, create a measurable pathway for substitution with validated non-animal methods.
How to Help
- Donate to organizations promoting replacement of animal testing with non-animal methods.
- Support and volunteer with animal welfare and science policy groups focused on research reform.
- Advocate for stronger federal reporting requirements and faster adoption of validated non-animal testing methods.
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Verified Organizations
Organizations Helping(15)
NAVS tackles the animal testing crisis through multiple strategies: (1) Data transparency and advocacy—they compile and publicly release USDA animal research data, making laboratory animal use visible to the public and policymakers. They were the first organization to include bird data in 2024 analysis, expanding the picture of animal use. (2) Policy advocacy—they work to strengthen federal reporting requirements and push for regulatory changes. (3) Promotion of alternatives—they advocate for the transition to humane, human-relevant research methods to replace animal testing. Their senior manager of policy and advocacy has publicly called for continued pressure to drive down animal use numbers and replace animal experiments with non-animal methods.
PETA engages on this issue through international campaigning against the donkey-skin trade and by urging African Union member states to enforce the ban. Its role is primarily public advocacy and pressure on governments and industry to stop the trade that drives mass slaughter.
Rise for Animals tackles the animal testing crisis through data analysis and transparency advocacy: (1) Annual data compilation and analysis—they compile USDA annual reports on animal research facility data and analyze trends in animal exploitation across all use categories. (2) Public awareness—they publish detailed breakdowns of animal use statistics, highlighting increases in painful experiments and specific species impacts (e.g., 80.7% increase in painful guinea pig experiments with pain relief, 21.1% increase without pain relief). (3) Advocacy for regulatory change—they highlight the gap between reported animals (1% of actual use) and actual animal use, advocating for expanded reporting requirements to include mice, rats, birds, and fish. (4) Pressure for alternatives—they use data to demonstrate the need for transition to human-relevant science methods, particularly in light of the FDA Modernization Act of 2022.
One Voice tackles animal testing through data analysis and regulatory advocacy: (1) European data analysis—they compile and analyze official laboratory animal use data from EU member states, identifying concerning trends such as the doubling of animals used for genetically modified line maintenance (from 225,435 to 491,778 in France in 2023). (2) Transparency advocacy—they request non-technical summaries of approved research projects to enable independent and transparent verification of animal experiment severity classifications. (3) Regulatory scrutiny—they identify gaps in reporting systems, such as the lack of traceability for dogs sourced outside the EU and the misuse of 'moderate' classifications that mask actual severity of procedures. (4) International advocacy—they work to ensure compliance with European directives requiring declining animal use trends and push for stronger enforcement of animal welfare standards.
