melanie d.g. kaplan
@melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social
author of LAB DOG (Oct 2025)
independent journalist
travel • science • animals
esp. beagles
melaniedgkaplan.com
newsletter/book updates @ https://melaniedgkaplan.com/contact.html
independent journalist
travel • science • animals
esp. beagles
melaniedgkaplan.com
newsletter/book updates @ https://melaniedgkaplan.com/contact.html
What a fun weekend! Thanks, @barnesandnoble.com Philly + DC, for hosting me and a bundle of Envigo and former research beagles. And to so many new and old friends who stopped by to say hi and pick up Lab Dog!
November 24, 2025 at 2:07 PM
What a fun weekend! Thanks, @barnesandnoble.com Philly + DC, for hosting me and a bundle of Envigo and former research beagles. And to so many new and old friends who stopped by to say hi and pick up Lab Dog!
Hope to see some of you this weekend at @barnesandnoble.com. Beagles will be joining me!
For a list of book events, keep an eye on my website. I'm adding new dates and deets regularly!
melaniedgkaplan.com/book.html #dogs, #animals, #booksky💙📚
For a list of book events, keep an eye on my website. I'm adding new dates and deets regularly!
melaniedgkaplan.com/book.html #dogs, #animals, #booksky💙📚
November 18, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Hope to see some of you this weekend at @barnesandnoble.com. Beagles will be joining me!
For a list of book events, keep an eye on my website. I'm adding new dates and deets regularly!
melaniedgkaplan.com/book.html #dogs, #animals, #booksky💙📚
For a list of book events, keep an eye on my website. I'm adding new dates and deets regularly!
melaniedgkaplan.com/book.html #dogs, #animals, #booksky💙📚
My first article in @theatlantic.com! The current administration has been surprisingly vocal about reducing the number of animals in research, but we don’t know how many animals are currently living in laboratories. Every animal counts. #animalresearch, #animals
The Trump administration says it wants to greatly reduce animal experimentation in the United States. Melanie D.G. Kaplan reports on why tracking the actual effects of its plans will be difficult:
Trump’s Animal-Research Plan Has a Missing Step
No one is tracking the total number of animals used across U.S. labs.
bit.ly
November 14, 2025 at 1:21 PM
My first article in @theatlantic.com! The current administration has been surprisingly vocal about reducing the number of animals in research, but we don’t know how many animals are currently living in laboratories. Every animal counts. #animalresearch, #animals
Cathy Alter's questions about Lab Dog in @wirobooks.bsky.social were the best--including who would play me in the movie version. Ha! She writes, "Think Travels with Hammy but with heartbreaking glimpses through laboratory doors." 💙📚 #animalresearch, #dogs, #booksky
November 12, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Cathy Alter's questions about Lab Dog in @wirobooks.bsky.social were the best--including who would play me in the movie version. Ha! She writes, "Think Travels with Hammy but with heartbreaking glimpses through laboratory doors." 💙📚 #animalresearch, #dogs, #booksky
E.B. Bartels's book, Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, comes out in paperback today! Stay tuned for my Lab Dog event with E.B. in 2026! www.harpercollins.com/products/goo...
Good Grief
An unexpected, poignant, and personal account of loving and losing pets, exploring the singular bonds we have with our companion animals, and how to grieve ...
www.harpercollins.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:11 PM
E.B. Bartels's book, Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, comes out in paperback today! Stay tuned for my Lab Dog event with E.B. in 2026! www.harpercollins.com/products/goo...
What a treat to finally meet author and adventurer Ken Ilgunas as a guest on his new podcast, Out of the Wild. Have a listen! #animals, #dogs, #booksky 💙📚
15. Melanie D.G. Kaplan on lab animals, non-human friends, & penpals
Melanie Kaplan’s work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and National Parks magazine.
kenilgunas.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:22 PM
November 6, 2025 at 3:19 PM
In @virginiagewin.bsky.social's impressive and sobering feature for @nature.com, she talks to 19 scientists @ EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA and USGS and explains how cutting the science will come at a cost to public health, environmental quality, and US scientific standing.
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:09 PM
In @virginiagewin.bsky.social's impressive and sobering feature for @nature.com, she talks to 19 scientists @ EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA and USGS and explains how cutting the science will come at a cost to public health, environmental quality, and US scientific standing.
Such a fun Lab Dog event at @oldtownbooks.bsky.social
Saturday! Thanks to the awesome Old Town Books staff, plus the Envigo beagles who showed up to represent those who are still being bred and used for research. 💙📚 #booksky, #animals, #dogs
Saturday! Thanks to the awesome Old Town Books staff, plus the Envigo beagles who showed up to represent those who are still being bred and used for research. 💙📚 #booksky, #animals, #dogs
November 4, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Such a fun Lab Dog event at @oldtownbooks.bsky.social
Saturday! Thanks to the awesome Old Town Books staff, plus the Envigo beagles who showed up to represent those who are still being bred and used for research. 💙📚 #booksky, #animals, #dogs
Saturday! Thanks to the awesome Old Town Books staff, plus the Envigo beagles who showed up to represent those who are still being bred and used for research. 💙📚 #booksky, #animals, #dogs
Terrific piece by Ava Kofman in @newyorker.com about the SC monkeys that ran away last year from Alpha Genesis Inc., one of the largest breeders of primate for research in the country. #animals, #animalrights
The Runaway Monkeys Upending the Animal-Rights Movement
“I wasn’t fooled by these walls of my body / but loved them touched.”
www.newyorker.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Terrific piece by Ava Kofman in @newyorker.com about the SC monkeys that ran away last year from Alpha Genesis Inc., one of the largest breeders of primate for research in the country. #animals, #animalrights
@usatoday.com: With the news this week about Ridglan Farms stopping their breeding of beagles to sell for research (see link in comments), I've been thinking a lot about whether the end of dog research is near.💙📚 #Booksky #dogs
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
My beagle spent years in a laboratory. Has testing on dogs finally had its day? | Opinion
I showed friends and strangers the ID tattooed inside my beagle's velvety ear: CAICWZ. Most were shocked to learn we still experiment on dogs.
www.usatoday.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:08 PM
@usatoday.com: With the news this week about Ridglan Farms stopping their breeding of beagles to sell for research (see link in comments), I've been thinking a lot about whether the end of dog research is near.💙📚 #Booksky #dogs
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
Hey DC-VA-MD friends: There are still tickets available for this Saturday morning's Lab Dog event at @oldtownbooks.bsky.social! If tickets sell out, come at 10, after the talk, to pet a beagle, buy a book and say hey.)💙📚
www.oldtownbooks.com/events/36118...
www.oldtownbooks.com/events/36118...
Author Event: Beagle Bagel Borkfast with Melanie D.G. Kaplan | Old Town Books
www.oldtownbooks.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Hey DC-VA-MD friends: There are still tickets available for this Saturday morning's Lab Dog event at @oldtownbooks.bsky.social! If tickets sell out, come at 10, after the talk, to pet a beagle, buy a book and say hey.)💙📚
www.oldtownbooks.com/events/36118...
www.oldtownbooks.com/events/36118...
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Hawkeye would be interviewing me about a book I just wrote. If you haven't yet listened to Clear+Vivid Podcast with Alan Alda, get ready for terrific guests, fascinating conversation and a wise and a thoughtful host you can't help but love. 💙📚
Melanie Kaplan: Travels With a Beagle | Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
After adopting a beagle that had spent the first four years of his life as an experimental subject in a laboratory, she set out – with Hammy the beagle by her side – to explore the murky world of anim...
clear-vivid-with-alan-alda.simplecast.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Hawkeye would be interviewing me about a book I just wrote. If you haven't yet listened to Clear+Vivid Podcast with Alan Alda, get ready for terrific guests, fascinating conversation and a wise and a thoughtful host you can't help but love. 💙📚
Hungry for some weekend reading? If you haven't bought Lab Dog yet, here's a excerpt in @statnews.com about the way words are used to describe animal research. It includes one of my favorite visits with Hammy, seeing Larry Carbone in Boston.
www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/l...
www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/l...
The long history of euphemisms around the use of animals in lab research
Animals used in research aren’t just hidden from sight. They’re objectified, or “de-animalized,” as Melanie D.G. Kaplan writes in this excerpt from her book “Lab Dog.”
www.statnews.com
October 25, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Hungry for some weekend reading? If you haven't bought Lab Dog yet, here's a excerpt in @statnews.com about the way words are used to describe animal research. It includes one of my favorite visits with Hammy, seeing Larry Carbone in Boston.
www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/l...
www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/l...
Wonderful night in conversation with @francoordonez.bsky.social at @wonderlandbookss.bsky.social! Thank you to our amazing hosts @amyjoycewords.bsky.social and Gayle Weiswasser, and extra thanks to @c-span.bsky.social, which will air their taping soon. So many good dogs in attendence!
October 22, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Wonderful night in conversation with @francoordonez.bsky.social at @wonderlandbookss.bsky.social! Thank you to our amazing hosts @amyjoycewords.bsky.social and Gayle Weiswasser, and extra thanks to @c-span.bsky.social, which will air their taping soon. So many good dogs in attendence!
Curious what's going on at the second largest lab beagle breeder in the country, in Wisconsin? Check out Bill Lueders's thoughtful and thorough review of Lab Dog in @theprogressivemag.bsky.social. I look forward to reading more of Bill's coverage as details emerge from Ridglan Farms.💙📚
Toward an End to Using Dogs in Research
Melanie Kaplan’s ‘Lab Dog’ tells a tale of suffering and redemption.
progressive.org
October 20, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Curious what's going on at the second largest lab beagle breeder in the country, in Wisconsin? Check out Bill Lueders's thoughtful and thorough review of Lab Dog in @theprogressivemag.bsky.social. I look forward to reading more of Bill's coverage as details emerge from Ridglan Farms.💙📚
Reposted by melanie d.g. kaplan
More great work by Consumer Reports on lead in the U.S. food supply. (They did ground-breaking work on lead in cinnamon). The concern is while such levels are low, multiple contaminated products will add up to a real risk. As always, pay attention to brands identified as a problem. (gift article)
Lead Found in Popular Protein Powders and Shakes, Report Says
www.nytimes.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:24 PM
More great work by Consumer Reports on lead in the U.S. food supply. (They did ground-breaking work on lead in cinnamon). The concern is while such levels are low, multiple contaminated products will add up to a real risk. As always, pay attention to brands identified as a problem. (gift article)
Love @tommytomlinson.bsky.social's Pub Day Q+A about Lab Dog! If you don't already know Tommy's work, check out his terrific Dogland, Elephant in the Room, and, for smaller bites, his Substack. 💙📚
tommytomlinson.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Love @tommytomlinson.bsky.social's Pub Day Q+A about Lab Dog! If you don't already know Tommy's work, check out his terrific Dogland, Elephant in the Room, and, for smaller bites, his Substack. 💙📚
Reposted by melanie d.g. kaplan
So excited my copy of @melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social’s book arrived!! Max is wondering why I placed it on him though! 😂 Happy belated pub day, Melanie! Very excited to read LAB DOG!!! 🐶
October 15, 2025 at 10:51 PM
So excited my copy of @melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social’s book arrived!! Max is wondering why I placed it on him though! 😂 Happy belated pub day, Melanie! Very excited to read LAB DOG!!! 🐶
Reposted by melanie d.g. kaplan
I'm new here. So I write (and sometimes edit) in-depth stories on rare disease medicine, genomics, China and other topics.
Here's an example:
endpts.com/a-teenager-f...
Would love to be in touch!
Here's an example:
endpts.com/a-teenager-f...
Would love to be in touch!
A teenager faced constant seizures. Could a drug developed just for him stop them?
SAN DIEGO — Connor Dalby’s shrieks filled his playroom, and the rest of the house. The teenager hushed when his mom, Kelley, asked a long-coming question: “Are you ready for the ...
endpts.com
December 4, 2024 at 2:54 PM
I'm new here. So I write (and sometimes edit) in-depth stories on rare disease medicine, genomics, China and other topics.
Here's an example:
endpts.com/a-teenager-f...
Would love to be in touch!
Here's an example:
endpts.com/a-teenager-f...
Would love to be in touch!
Sitting in the conference room at @wamu.org.web.brid.gy waiting for my interview to begin, Kojo Nnamdi introduced himself. Then I had the honor of being interviewed by the wonderful Jennifer White. Listen to the full show here! wamu.org/story/25/10/...
October 15, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Sitting in the conference room at @wamu.org.web.brid.gy waiting for my interview to begin, Kojo Nnamdi introduced himself. Then I had the honor of being interviewed by the wonderful Jennifer White. Listen to the full show here! wamu.org/story/25/10/...
Reposted by melanie d.g. kaplan
My copy of @melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social 's LAB DOG is here! Beautiful non-fiction about her adopted former laboratory beagle Hammy. She writes her way through an exploration of dogs in biomedical science to visions of a better kinder future. #dogs #science #animalfreescience #Booksky #animalrights
October 15, 2025 at 6:05 PM
My copy of @melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social 's LAB DOG is here! Beautiful non-fiction about her adopted former laboratory beagle Hammy. She writes her way through an exploration of dogs in biomedical science to visions of a better kinder future. #dogs #science #animalfreescience #Booksky #animalrights
Thank you everyone for making yesterday such an amazing, dream-come-true pub day for Lab Dog! The fun continues today with a live in-studio interview on @wamu.org.web.brid.gy 1A. Tune in or catch it later on the podcast! www.npr.org/podcasts/510...
1A
Listening to the news can feel like a journey. But 1A guides you beyond the headlines – and cuts through the noise. Let's get to the heart of the story, together – on 1A.Support NPR and get your news ...
www.npr.org
October 15, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Thank you everyone for making yesterday such an amazing, dream-come-true pub day for Lab Dog! The fun continues today with a live in-studio interview on @wamu.org.web.brid.gy 1A. Tune in or catch it later on the podcast! www.npr.org/podcasts/510...
Aroooo! 20% off with promo code HAMMY @ tinyurl.com/labdogbook
October 14, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Aroooo! 20% off with promo code HAMMY @ tinyurl.com/labdogbook
Today is LAB DOG launch day, y'all!
My pal Auggie in NM just received his order of books (planning early for holiday gifts). Send me pictures of your Lab Dog books with your dog friends (via message or post in comments), include the dog's name and state, and I'll share all these pictures soon! ⭐️
My pal Auggie in NM just received his order of books (planning early for holiday gifts). Send me pictures of your Lab Dog books with your dog friends (via message or post in comments), include the dog's name and state, and I'll share all these pictures soon! ⭐️
October 14, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Today is LAB DOG launch day, y'all!
My pal Auggie in NM just received his order of books (planning early for holiday gifts). Send me pictures of your Lab Dog books with your dog friends (via message or post in comments), include the dog's name and state, and I'll share all these pictures soon! ⭐️
My pal Auggie in NM just received his order of books (planning early for holiday gifts). Send me pictures of your Lab Dog books with your dog friends (via message or post in comments), include the dog's name and state, and I'll share all these pictures soon! ⭐️