Apart from an excellent article in the Guardian and a few other papers, there was only minimal media coverage of today’s announcement from the Advertising Standards Authority to uphold five complaints against the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA). This may come as a disappointment to some of us. It is, after all, nice to see the systematic misinformation from antivivisection groups publicly exposed.

But maybe it is a sign of the times. The medical benefits of animal research are becoming well-known. And the scientific and medical consensus on its value is overwhelming. The mainstream media don’t need much more convincing. From that point of view, demonstrating that antivivisection groups use false information and wrong arguments just isn’t that newsworthy any more. We have actually made a lot of progress in recent years!