The need for animal testing alternatives

Research into animal-free testing methods in the medical field is vital. More than 50 million animals are used in experiments in the US, says the Humane Society. These include mice, monkeys, dogs, pigs, rats, sheep, cows, and frogs.

The nonprofit says: “There is no limit to the extent of pain and suffering that can be inflicted during experiments.”

“In some instances, animals are not given anything to relieve their pain or distress during or after the experiment on the basis that it could affect the experiment.”

But, as research into alternatives advances, change could be on the horizon. In 2020, University of Dundee researchers grew skin in a lab in a bid to reduce animal testing. 

One of the researchers, Dr. Michael Coneely, told the Times that animal tests are often not even 100 percent reliable. He said that animals serve as “good analogs to study general principles.” But added that “they often fail when it comes to specific details due to animal/human species differences.”

He continued: “Upwards of 90 percent of drugs that are proven safe and effective in animals fail during clinical trials.”

The post New Study Findings Could Reduce Animal Testing In The Medical Field appeared first on Plant Based News.

According to the NGO Eurogroup for Animals, around five liters of blood is taken from pregnant horses every week in Iceland. When they give birth, their foals are often sent to the slaughterhouse.

The blood farming process is inherently exploitative. But on top of this, animal rights activists recently discovered horses being abused on the farms. They obtained footage of the animals being hit before their blood was taken.

They also discovered bite marks inside the horse enclosures, which they say is an indication of anxiety and distress.

#DYK? Huge amounts of blood are taken from pregnant mares to produce a hormone called #eCG.

This is used to increase fertility in farm animals.

We call on the to stop this cruel practice and ban the production/import/use of eCG.https://t.co/44MawgLzdl

— Eurogroup For Animals (@Act4AnimalsEU) May 16, 2022

Growing opposition to blood farms

Animal rights activists aren’t the only ones against blood farms. 

The European parliament wants them to be banned too. In fact, a 2021 Motion for a Resolution called “on the Commission and the Member States to halt the import and production” of Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin. It called for the use of “animal-friendly alternatives” instead.

Applying more pressure on Iceland and the European Commission, Eurogroup for Animals recently partnered with 16 animal protection organizations to file a complaint against blood farming to the European Free Trade Association’s Surveillance Authority.

The complaint argues that Iceland is not applying its laws on the protection of animals used in science to blood farms. Despite claims to the contrary, Iceland does not see the extraction of the hormone as an animal experiment.

Many Icelandic people are also against blood farming.

Rósa Líf Darradóttir, who lives in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, and owns horses, told the Guardian: I would like people to know that Iceland is actually stabbing semi-wild pregnant mares. [They’re] taking their blood in extreme volumes and frequency, just to make pigs have more pigs.”

The post Iceland Faces Calls To Ban Blood Farms That Exploit Pregnant Horses appeared first on Plant Based News.

Now, there are hundreds of dog breeds, all with different perceived traits. But according to a new study, much of the way each individual dog behaves isn’t linked to breeding at all.

Canine breeding as we understand it today is still quite a new phenomenon. In fact, breeding for certain physical traits became popular in the Victorian era, which was only about 150 years ago.

Since then, breeds have earned reputations. Pit bulls, like American pit bull terriers and Staffordshire terriers, are widely considered aggressive. English bulldogs are considered to be calm, and golden retrievers are thought of as bouncy, friendly, and smart.

But research from the University of Massachusetts Umass Chan medical school indicates that some of these reputations may be unfair. 

Owners should disregard breed ancestry

The study—which analysed 18,385 pet dogs, half of which were purebred—found a variety of behaviors displayed, but, for the most part, they weren’t linked to any specific breed.

That said, there were a few similarities in dogs of the same breed. The authors wrote: “Breed offers little predictive value for individuals, explaining just nine percent of variation in behavior.”

While some traits could be linked to genetics, others were likely down to other factors, like environmental influences.

Interestingly, researchers found that pit bulls, as well as retrievers, were more sociable and comfortable around new people.

But because of their reputation, pit bulls are on the receiving end of a lot of prejudice. They’re one of the most likely breeds to end up in a shelter in the US. And, when they’re there, they struggle to get adopted.

This has led to the founding of organizations like Adopt a Pit. The Miami Valley-based nonprofit launched in 2013 to support the adoption of pit bulls and other breeds that are considered to be aggressive.

Remarking on the study findings to the Guardian, lead author Dr. Elinor Karlsson said that the study shows that owners “should pay much less attention to all the stories about what their dog’s breed ancestry says about their behavior and personality.”

Instead, she said they should “pay attention to the dog sitting in front of them.”

The post New Research Suggests Dog Behavior Often Isn’t Linked To Breed appeared first on Plant Based News.

But what about meat made from thin air? It seems way too futuristic to be true, but it’s real.

Inspired by old NASA research, which focused on innovative ways to feed astronauts on long space missions, California-based food tech startup Air Protein uses carbon capture to literally turn air into protein.

Put (relatively) simply, the brand uses microbes to recycle purified food-grade CO2 and combines it with water and energy to create protein. After that, in a process similar to beer fermentation, the protein is turned into a flour-like substance.

Oils, nutrients, and flavorings are added to turn that powder into the end product: Air Meat. The totally vegan product resembles either steak, chicken, fish, or pork.

Why we need Air Meat

According to founder Lisa Dyson, Air Protein is driven by an impact-focused mission to transform the food system.

Conventional meat products are the product of animal agriculture. The outdated and destructive industry not only slaughters billions of animals, but also contributes around 14.5 percent of global greenhouse emissions and destroys rainforests. (According to a study by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 80 percent of the Amazon has been cut down by ranchers.)

Some may be confused by the idea of using air to make products that taste like meat. But Dyson says it is an essential concept to explore. It doesn’t require anywhere near as many natural resources but gives those who enjoy meat products a credible, realistic-tasting alternative, she says.

Dyson told Dezeen: “We have a mission at Air Protein to accelerate the world’s transition to climate and rainforest-friendly meat. That mission requires us to make products that meat-eaters love.”

“We are focused on delivering taste, texture, and nutritional outcomes that will make the environmentally-friendly choice the easy choice.”

This article was originally published on April 20, 2022. It was corrected on April 27 to state that Air Protein uses food-grade CO2.

The post This Food Tech Start-Up Is Making Vegan Meat Out Of Thin Air, Literally appeared first on Plant Based News.

Berardo de Jesús Rodríguez, a veterinarian and musician at the University of Antioquia composed 16 pieces of music that were either consonant or dissonant.

To humans, consonant music usually sounds pleasant and smooth, whereas dissonance tends to sound jarring and uncomfortable.

The research team then monitored and filmed six litters of 10 to 12 young pigs listening to the pieces of music through a speaker at a university pig farm.

Each piece lasted about three to five minutes and was played in random order with a 3-minute break in between.

Pigs responding to music

The pigs’ body language was scored on 20 emotional parameters, including “content” and “uneasy” using an approach called qualitative behavioral assessment (QBA).

This method looks closely at the animal’s posture, demeanor, and general interaction with their environment to assess their mood and emotional state of mind.

Consonant music caused the pigs to experience positive emotions, whereas dissonant music caused negative emotions. You can see the pigs’ reactions to the different pieces of music here.

Pigs are ‘highly intelligent’

Co-author of the new study, Maria Camila Ceballos, an animal welfare scientist at the University of Calgary, says she and her colleagues chose to research pigs’ emotions because they are highly intelligent and social animals that face serious welfare abuses on factory farms.

Another recent study found that there were clear differences in pig sounds depending on positive and negative situations, proving again that pigs experience emotions just like humans.

Both of these studies add to the ever-growing pile of research that supports calls for welfare on factory farms to be radically improved and calls to end the slaughter of animals that experience emotions such as happiness, fear, and stress in the same way we do.

The post Pigs React Emotionally To Music Just Like Humans, Study Finds appeared first on Plant Based News.

In a bid to decode the emotional state of pigs, a first-of-its-kind study set out to understand the meaning of the broad range of pig sounds, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). 

The study aimed to determine positive and negative emotions

In the study, the researchers designed an algorithm that can determine whether an individual pig is experiencing a positive emotion (when they feel ‘happy’ or ‘excited’), a negative emotion (when they feel ‘stressed’ or ‘scared’), or somewhere in between.

The study was recently published in an open-access journal, Scientific Reports, and was led by the University of Copenhagen, the ETH Zurich, and France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE). 

An international team of researchers across Europe gathered more than 7,000 audio recordings of pig calls from 411 different pigs. 

The audio recordings were collected throughout the lives of commercial pigs – right from their birth and up until they were slaughtered.

The study authors were able to capture the sounds made by pigs of different ages in a wide range of situations, eliciting positive and negative emotions. 

Using an AI-driven algorithm, the researchers analyzed the audio sounds to differentiate and classify the oinks, grunts, and squeals into positive and negative emotional states. 

The findings…

The study found that there were clear differences in pig calls depending on positive and negative situations. 

The findings generally validated prior observations that have linked high-frequency calls with negative emotional states and low-frequency sounds with positive emotional states. 

Happy pigs had shorter grunts

In positive situations, where the pigs were reunited with their family after being separated or suckling their mothers, the pig calls elicited distinct sounds.

Pigs that expressed positive emotions produced far shorter calls, with minor fluctuations in amplitude. The grunts were short, beginning high and gradually reducing in frequency.

In contrast, emotionally negative situations included, among others, separation, starvation, castration, and handling and waiting in the slaughterhouse to be killed.

During these distressing situations, the pigs generally produced cries of agony in the form of screams, squeals, and barks that were longer in length. The researchers noticed that the cries were extra variable in frequency than the sounds of happy pigs.

The algorithm successfully decodes and understands the emotions of pigs

“​With this study, we demonstrate that animal sounds provide great insight into their emotions. We also prove that an algorithm can be used to decode and understand the emotions of pigs, which is an important step towards improved animal welfare for livestock,” said Associate Professor Elodie Briefer, the study’s lead author, in a statement. 

According to Briefer, the researchers’ algorithm correctly identified the animal’s emotion as positive or negative 92 percent of the time. 

This groundbreaking research highlights the fact that animals, such as pigs, are indeed capable of experiencing emotions in a way that’s somewhat similar to our experience.

The researchers believe the AI-driven algorithm could be used to understand the emotions and even monitor the psychological well-being of other animals too.  

The post Why Do Pigs Cry? Their Complex Emotional Lives Highlighted In New Study appeared first on Plant Based News.

As part of the study, a total of 42 consumers from Germany, the UK, the US, and Singapore discussed their thoughts about animal-free dairy in their respective focus groups. 

The first-of-its-kind study reports that there is a great deal of curiosity surrounding animal-free dairy and that consumers show great enthusiasm towards trying dairy products made using precision fermentation. 

The initial reactions based around precision fermentation were intrigue and disbelief that such products were possible, with the majority indicating that they would like to try the product themselves.

Animal welfare

Nearly all of the participants agreed that society should work harder to treat animals with dignity, and the vast majority of them readily linked that a “new way of making dairy” would reduce the need to subject cows to the poor welfare conditions of industrial animal agriculture. 

When asked about their motivations behind trying animal-free dairy, most of the participants readily acknowledged the harsh realities of modern-day animal agriculture and the animal welfare advantages of the new technology. 

“Why do we deserve to make them subject to this kind of treatment, especially if it’s for our benefits and especially if like, you know, these big corporations are reaping the benefits from their misery?” – Female Singaporean participant, aged 50, on animal welfare in modern agriculture.

Environment and climate change

Most of the participants understood the environmental benefits of producing dairy using the new technology. 

Scientific research shows that animal agriculture is responsible for 14.5 – 16.5 percent of human-made greenhouse gas emissions — greater than all transportation combined.

Dairy farming releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, such as methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide, so it’s hardly surprising that the vast majority of participants responded positively to the environmental benefits.

The participants acknowledged the urgency of the climate crisis and identified the need to reduce emissions, “food miles,” and the amount of land and natural resources needed for dairy production. 

It’s all in the name

The participants were asked to consider five potential names for dairy products crafted using precision fermentation:

• Animal-free dairy
• Next-gen dairy
• Cultivated dairy
• Bio-identical dairy
• Parallel dairy

“Animal-free dairy” was the most favored term, described as the most appealing and most straightforward.

People were also quick to connect the term “animal-free” to the product itself. “Next-gen dairy” was the next most favored term, and “parallel dairy” was the most disliked. 

So how does precision fermation work?

The process works by “programming” microorganisms, such as yeast or fungus, to produce bio-identical milk proteins, all without actually harming any cows in the process.

In order to produce animal-free milk proteins, the desired fragment of genetic information (the genetic blueprint), is planted into a culture of microorganisms such as yeast, bacteria or fungi.

The host microorganism replicates the foreign genetic information, producing large amounts of protein with desirable properties.

Once enough proteins have been produced, the proteins are separated from the microorganisms, leaving milk proteins that are identical to the conventionally produced animal proteins.

These proteins can then be used to produce a range of dairy products that achieve the same taste, structure, meltability, stretchability as traditional dairy products.

Precision fermantation is the future

Plant Based News co-founder Klaus Mitchell predicted in a speech last year that the world will go vegan, and that we probably won’t even notice. Mitchell predicts that precision fermentation will play a huge role in the transition.

This study ultimately highlights the remarkable level of interest and enthusiasm for precision fermentation, suggesting that there’s a strong consumer acceptance for animal-free products.

The post Study Finds ‘Solid’ Consumer Enthusiasm For  Lab-Grown Dairy appeared first on Plant Based News.

The amount remains undisclosed but adds to the $16 million in seed capital they raised last year.

The company, which currently produces a range of plant-based products called Love BUDS, will use the funding to expand its existing product lines, including a move into animal-free dairy using precision fermentation technology. 

Challenging the food system

All G was founded with the aim of developing sustainable alternatives to animal products.

Love BUDS is now sold at more than 300 Woolworths locations, with mince, sausages, bacon, and nuggets all scheduled to hit the shelves in the very near future.

MilkCELL, the dairy arm of the company, is expected to launch in two to three years, supported by this latest investment from Woolworths.

Precision fermentation dairy is coming

Precision fermentation can recreate animal products without using animals.

It’s similar to brewing beer; in this process, microorganisms consume nutrients and create alcohol, but instead of alcohol, the microorganisms that make animal-free dairy create milk proteins, as food scientists have encoded them with milk-protein DNA.

The technology has huge potential to end animal exploitation and help limit the climate crisis.

The business world is already wise to the upcoming revolution — precision fermentation technology reportedly generated $587 million in revenue over the pandemic, according to The Good Food Institute (GFI)’s 2020 State of Industry report.

Furthermore, it appears that people on the ground are also ready to accept the new technology. A recent study found “solid enthusiasm” for using the technology to make dairy products amongst consumers.

Woolworths on the right side of history

The Australian grocery giant has previously invested in alternative protein companies and has been actively increasing the number of vegan options available in its stores.

It created W23 in 2019 to invest in new innovative food technology, and last year led the seed funding for Harvest B, a domestic alternative protein producer that banked $3.5 million in funding to develop alternative proteins for use by plant-based manufacturers.

The post Woolworths Invests Millions Into Alt-Dairy appeared first on Plant Based News.

Since 2018, the koala population has fallen in every region of Australia, and in 2020 animal welfare groups urged the federal government in Australia to classify koalas as an endangered species.

Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said: “Together we can ensure a healthy future for the koala, and this decision, along with the total $74 million we have committed to koalas since 2019, will play a key role in that process.”

A further $50 million was pledged by the Australian Prime Minister at the end of January 2022.

Doubts about status change

The koala has been a vulnerable species in NSW, QLD, and the ACT since May 2012 due to a deadly combination of drought, bush fires, and habitat loss related to land clearing.

The status change theoretically elevates the protection of koalas in these states, though critics are doubtful this will occur.

The Australian Koala Federation (AFK) tweeted in response: “A status change is just a word. It does nothing legally to stop land clearing, which is the key reason for Koalas becoming homeless and then getting sick with disease.”

A double-edged sword

Though it lobbied the government to implement the endangered classification in April 2020, the IFAW has called the change “a double-edged sword”. Oceania regional director, Rebecca Keeble, said:

“We should never have allowed things to get to the point where we are at risk of losing a national icon. It is a dark day for our nation. If we can’t protect an iconic species endemic to Australia, what chance do lesser-known but no less important species have?”

Keeble added: “This must be a wake-up call to Australia and the government to move much faster to protect critical habitat from development and land-clearing and seriously address the impacts of climate change.”

In its 2020 report calling for koalas to be designated “endangered,” IFAW found that, since 2001, there has been a 50 percent koala population decline in QLD and a 33-61 percent decline in NSW.

Without urgent intervention, koalas are predicted to be extinct in NSW by 2050.

Species already in trouble

The 2019-20 Australian bushfire season – known as Black Summer – was unusually long and intense, thought by experts to result from the climate crisis.

In response to the fires, naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough said: “The moment of crisis has come.” 

Hot and dry weather creates the perfect conditions for wildfires to rage, and 2019 was Australia’s hottest and direct year on record, with the annual mean temperature 1.52°C above average.

Koalas suffered the brunt of this. In December 2020, WWF reported that 60,000 koalas had experienced death, injury, smoke inhalation, heat stress, dehydration, loss of habitat, reduced food supply, increased predation risk, or conflict with other animals after fleeing to unburned forest as a result of the fires.

Dermot O’Gorman, CEO of WWF-Australia, said: “Sixty thousand koalas impacted is a deeply disturbing number for a species already in trouble.”

Between 2018-21, every Australian region saw a koala population decline. Chair of the AFK Deborah Tabart said: “The terrible bushfires of 2019-20, of course, contributed to this outcome; however, they are certainly not the only reason we are seeing Koala populations on the decline. 

“We have witnessed a drastic decrease in inland populations because of drought, heatwaves, and lack of water for Koalas to drink. I have seen some landscapes that look like the moon – with dead and dying trees everywhere.”

Land clearing and agriculture

On the koala’s new categorization as “endangered,” senior campaign manager for Humane Society International, Alexia Wellbelove said:

“This uplisting is an urgent cue for governments to take a stand against the continued clearing of koala habitat. Unless we want to say goodbye for good, we can’t afford any more clearing”

Since European settlement in Australia, 80 percent of the nation’s eucalypt forests – which koalas eat and live in – have been cleared, according to the AKF.

This combined loss of habitat and nourishment makes koalas more susceptible to disease, disturbance by humans, starvation, injury or death from traffic or domestic pets, the effect of garden pesticides running into waterways, and competition for food as liveable territory shrinks.

Despite the 2012 listing as “vulnerable,” which should have protected koala habitats, the WWF found in 2020 that land clearing had increased, with 103,936 ha of land cleared in QLD and 73,475 ha cleared in NSW.

The IFAW similarly reported that land clearing increased by 13 times after 2016 when the government weakened native vegetation laws. 

In NSW, forestry was the dominant purpose of land destruction (62 percent). In Queensland, 80 percent of land destruction was for livestock pasture, meaning animal agriculture for human consumption prevails over the protection of koala habitats.

The post Koalas Officially ‘Endangered’ In Eastern Australia appeared first on Plant Based News.

Iceland’s current quota – which expires in 2023 – allows for 217 minke whales and 209 fin whales to be hunted annually, despite the latter being an endangered species. With only one whale killed by Icelandic hunters in the last three years, however, this quota may not be renewed.

On February 4, Svandis Svavarsdóttir, the fisheries minister, wrote in Morgunblaðið newspaper: 

“Why should Iceland take the risk of keeping up whaling, which has not brought any economic gain, in order to sell a product for which there is hardly any demand?”

Activists welcome the change

Iceland is one of the few countries in the world – along with Norway and Japan – that hunts whales commercially despite the United Nations’ international ban. When Japan, the largest market for whale meat, lifted its 30-year commercial whaling ban in 2019, the profitability of Icelandic whaling dramatically decreased.

Animal rights and climate activists welcome the change. Vanessa Williams-Grey, of UK charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said: “Icelandic whalers have killed hundreds of whales in recent years, despite almost zero domestic demand, and declining interest from tourists and the Japanese market.”

She added: “Killing fin whales, an endangered species and the second largest creature on our planet, is nothing short of ecocide, especially given the essential role these gentle giants play in the battle against climate change.”

Whales key to oceanic ecosystem

Whales, particularly baleen and sperm whales, store carbon in their bodies and play a large role in shaping the ocean ecosystem.

A 2010 scientific study found that, before industrial whaling, whales would have sunk 190,000 to 1.9 million tonnes of carbon per year to the bottom of the ocean, equivalent to the annual emissions of 40,000 to 410,000 cars. 

Whaling on the decline

Under the UN’s International Whaling Commission (IWC), only subsistence whaling is permitted where it is considered an indigenous activity, as is the case in Canada, the United States, Denmark, and Russia. 

Iceland has been a member of the IWC since its creation in 1949. However, since the 1986 international whaling moratorium, Icelandic whalers have hunted more than 1,700 whales.

In 2018, Icelandic whalers controversially hunted and killed a blue whale. Although the current quota window, which began in 2019 and will end in 2023, allowed for over 2,000 whales to be hunted legally, only one whale has been killed in this time period – a Minke whale in 2021.

In 2020, IP-Utgerd, one of Iceland’s two main whaling licence holders, ceased whaling entirely.

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