As every year, Antidote Europe took part in events marking World Day for Animals in Laboratories (WDAIL), held on April 24 (a Friday this year).
1. Speech in Paris
On April 18, 2026, a few days ahead of the actual date and taking advantage of greater public availability on a Saturday afternoon, the association One Voice organized a gathering in front of the square gates on rue Vieille-du-Temple, in Paris. Signs, a loudspeaker, and printed materials were on hand to spread the activists’ message, focused this year, as in 2025, on the use of monkeys.
A year ago, WDAIL marked the kickoff of the mobilization against the National Primatology Centre (CNP) project, a monkey breeding facility for laboratories, in Rousset (Bouches-du-Rhône). This year, the campaign is in full swing!
Responding to an invitation from One Voice — whom we thank! —, our treasurer Angela Tandura read the following text:
At a time when European countries are impressively reducing their use of monkeys in research, and the United States is beginning to replace primate experimentation with 21st-century-worthy technologies, France is going against the tide — notably by expanding its breeding centres, such as the CNRS facility in Rousset (Bouches-du-Rhône), and by increasing the import of macaque monkeys from Mauritius.
In November 2025, one of the largest reference toxicology laboratories in the United States closed its doors for good. This will spare 200 macaque monkeys.
A few months later, in February 2026, one of the largest primate research centres in Oregon, USA, announced discussions with the NIH (National Institutes of Health) to convert the centre into a sanctuary to save 5,000 macaque monkeys. This is unprecedented!
This is an opportunity to inform our elected officials, through every legitimate means, that the majority of French people do not support animal experimentation in general, and certainly not the torture of primates in the name of science.
Victor Hugo said that “Vivisection is a crime”; Mahatma Gandhi called vivisection “the blackest of all the black crimes that man is at present committing.”
Antidote Europe is proud to have taken part in the public consultation on the Rousset primatology centre alongside our friends at One Voice and a Vaucluse association collective.
Unity is strength!
Researchers who still practice animal experimentation, and industry players, need to accept that the tide is turning.
The status quo is no longer acceptable. Society is no longer fooled, and public opinion will soon sweep animal experimentation away with the force of a tsunami.
To be continued!
Thank you for your commitment and your support.
2. Webinar on current developments in animal experimentation
For the first time compared to previous years, we organized our own event this year. On Thursday, April 23, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm, we hosted a webinar entitled: “Animal Experimentation: The Tipping Point?”.
The program was as follows:
12:10 pm: political analysis with Melvin Josse, director of Convergence Animaux Politique
Melvin Josse holds a PhD in political science and is the founder of Convergence Animaux Politique, a non-profit association that fosters cooperation between NGOs and French policymakers to advance animal-friendly legislation. In 2021, he published a thesis entitled “Repression and Animal Advocacy.” He is also a co-founder of the Parti animaliste (Animalist Party).
12:25 pm: legal analysis with Alice Di Concetto, director of The European Institute for Animal Law & Policy
Alice Di Concetto founded the European Institute for Animal Law & Policy and teaches animal ethics at Sciences Po (Paris). Before founding the Institute, she was a research fellow with the Animal Law Program at Harvard Law School, from 2016 to 2018.
12:40 pm: scientific analysis with André Ménache, President of Antidote Europe
André Ménache is a veterinarian and President of Antidote Europe, an association dedicated to more effective and reliable research not based on animal experimentation. Former president of Doctors and Lawyers for Responsible Medicine, he worked on the Declaration of Helsinki, amending it in favor of using alternative methods.
12:55 pm: analysis of the Rousset project with Roland Cash, vice-president of Transcience
Roland Cash is a physician, a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure, a consultant in health economics and public health, and scientific advisor to the HCAAM (High Council for the Future of Health Insurance). He is vice-president of Transcience, an association that supports the transition toward non-animal research. He was scientific lead for the activity-based pricing mission at the Ministry of Health and a member of the economic and public health evaluation committee at the Haute Autorité de Santé (French National Authority for Health).
1:10 pm: ethical analysis with Émilie Dardenne, university professor, animal studies
Émilie Dardenne specializes in animal studies. She is a university professor at Université Rennes 2, where she heads the university diploma program on Animals and Society. She is a senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France. In April 2026, she published the book “Penser la condition animale” (Thinking About the Animal Condition) with Presses de Sciences Po.
The announcement was widely shared, and around 70 people joined live.
The recording of this webinar is available on our YouTube channel. Within a few days, it had been viewed more than 200 times! We received several thank-you comments and “likes” via the YouTube link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSGKs69O7wE) and on social media. We warmly thank Charlotte Arnal for organizing and hosting this webinar, as well as, of course, the speakers, the audience, and everyone who helped make this event a real success.
3. Article published in Savoir animal
On April 24, 2026, on the very day of WDAIL, the Savoir Animal website published an article by Antidote Europe about our campaign against the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).
We report on our appeal filed with the Administrative Court challenging a CEA authorization to import, breed, and use animals for research purposes, as well as on our petition and our letter to the CEA’s Administrator General. Read it at https://savoir-animal.fr/experimentation-animale-sur-les-singes-long-antidote-europe-demande-des-comptes-au-commissariat-a-lenergie-et-aux-energies-alternatives-cea/