Rockville biomedical research company Bioqual has won a $24 million contract from the National Institutes of Health to house and maintain non-human primates for medical research, according to a recent news report. Continuing this barbaric practice is a stain on an otherwise reputable institution.

HR 5852, introduced in April, would prohibit invasive research on great apes. Unfortunately, it wouldn't stop NIH from conducting research on monkeys (they aren't great apes, which include gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees , bonobos and gibbons) or beagles or any other animal of their choosing. But the bill is a necessary step toward ending crude, cruel, and unnecessary animal testing and research.

All Democrats should support this bill. Please write or call your Representative, and ask him/her to join the current sponsors: Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Thomas Allen (D-ME), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Bruce Braley (D-IA), John Campbell (R-CA), James Langevin (D-RI), and David Reichett (R-WA).

And while you're at it, ask your legislator to tell NIH, FDA and EPA to stop supporting/requiring the use of animals in medical research and product testing.

One of the most effective ways to advocate on behalf of animals is to become involved in the political process.
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API participates in the public policy process at the local, state, national level, and international level - and we can show you how to do it too. We need everyone who cares about animals and their treatment to help by calling, writing, and visiting their public officials. You don't need to be a voter to express your concerns; anyone, no matter what your age, can do something. It can take as little as a minute and can make a big difference. If you're an Activist, or want to become one, we can help.

There are cats all around us. But just because a cat lives outside doesn't mean she is homeless. These alley cats, barn cats, or street cats - feral cats - are undomesticated and unsocialized, and call the outside their home, just as squirrels, raccoons, and birds do. Feral cats live together in colonies, and unless spayed or neutered, their numbers grow. Tomcats prowl for mates, females become pregnant, and the cycle of reproduction continues.
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We want everyone to know the truth about feral cats and Trap, Neuter, and Return or TNR. This sensible method of population control returns spayed and neutered cats to their outdoor homes, improves their lives and health, and brings their numbers down.

Have you ever gone by a home where the same dog is chained outside all the time? It may be the most pervasive form of domestic animal cruelty we have in Maine today.
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But something has been done. In the last legislative session, Maine Friends of Animals sponsored the first state legislation addressing specific changes to dogs left continuously outside. With the momentum of this legislation, a statewide campaign is in place to continue to educate the public, the media and legislators that more has to be done to improve the miserable life of these dogs.