Global Advancements in Animal Rights: Efforts to Strengthen Animal-People Cruelty Laws, Part 10 of a Multi-part Series

Did you know? Millions of wild animal-people are still held in captivity for human entertainment. In July 2025, Cartagena, Colombia, took a decisive step toward humane urban development when Mayor Dumek Turbay announced a historic ban on horse-drawn carriages. In January 2026, Mexico made history by unanimously passing a ban on the use of captive marine mammal-people in entertainment. As part of the transition, about 350 dolphin-citizens will be relocated to seaside sanctuaries where they can relearn natural behaviors, and some may eventually be returned to the wild. In March 2026, the Senedd passed the Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Wales) Bill, making Wales the first UK nation to outlaw the sport.

In November 2025, the UK government unveiled a roadmap to accelerate the phase-out of animal-people testing by investing in advanced alternatives such as artificial intelligence (AI), 3D bioprinted human tissues, and organ-on-a-chip technologies. A key milestone in this plan is the commitment to end Botox potency tests on mice by 2027 – procedures long criticized as cruel and scientifically obsolete.

“HHS Secretary RFK Jr says phasing out animal testing in medical research is both moral and a scientific necessity. National Institutes of Health or NIH announced last week that it secured 87 million dollars for a new research center – one that will eventually move away from animal testing and shift to tiny lab-grown 3D tissue models to test and investigate drugs, chemicals, and the roots of chronic disease.” In January 2026, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin recommitted the agency to eliminating mammalian animal testing by 2035 – a campaign initiated during President Trump’s first term.