If you haven't yet read Lab Dog, here's an excerpt from @undark.org. It's one of my favorite sections--because it starts with Hammy and his love for vegetables. :-) Then it delves into the complicated ethical choices we make about animal research. Enjoy the read! #animalresearch, #dogs, #booksky 💙📚

Best weekend of books and beagles! Thanks, @barnesandnoble.com Woodbridge + Annapolis and so many beagles who were bred with the intention of being used for research but instead busied themselves inhaling pup cups and greeting shoppers. #animalresearch, #dogs, #booksky📚💙

@barnesandnoble.com double-header this weekend to kick off the new year! Hope to see you at one of these events: Woodbridge, VA on Saturday * Annapolis on Sunday. Come meet some beagles bred for research and pick up a signed copy of Lab Dog! #booksky, #dogs, #animals, #animalresearh💙📚

frappesandfiction.com/2026/01/01/b... Lab Dog by @melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social

A surprise gift at the end of 2025: This review from @jayhancock.bsky.social in @wirobooks.bsky.social. Thank you! 📚💙 #booksky, #animals, #dogs

If you're looking for a podcast about animals, I can't recommend one more than @speciesunite.bsky.social. I've been listening to the lovely and thoughtful @elizabethnovogratz.bsky.social for years and was honored this fall when she invited me on as a guest to chat about Lab Dog! 💙📚 #animals

Stacy Lopresti-Goodman on dogs used for research. "My findings demonstrate that despite some residual fear and anxiety from their early-life experiences, [former lab dogs] can adjust to living in homes, form strong bonds with their caregivers, and make equally good companions as other beagles do."

🎧 Why do we connect so deeply with animals? Listen to this moving clip from our bonus content with @melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social. Join our flock today! All donations TRIPLE MATCHED until 12/31. Even $5 helps keep our podcast going! ourhenhouse.org/support

I talked to @fayeflam.bsky.social, a science journalist and columnist for @bloomberg.com, when she was gathering info for this column--a topic that's obvs important to me. Will dogs follow the in footsteps of chimps, who were phased out of experimentation a decade ago? #dogs, #animalresearch

🎧 NEW EPISODE ALERT! 🎧 Our interview with @melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social about her book "Lab Dog" is out now! A must-listen for anyone who cares about animals AND scientific progress. Listen on your fav podcatcher, watch on our YouTube, or check out ourhenhouse.org/ep884 #AnimalRights #LabDog

The founders of Ashland Creek Press have a new book that digs into the language around animals and offers tips for how to portray them empathically and authentically. The authors were just interviewed on @ourhenhouse.org and they'll be teaching a writing workshop in March. Links in comments!

Ever wonder why beagles are the most common dogs in labs? This Friday on Our Hen House, author @melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social reveals the economic and historical reasons behind this choice. The truth about animal testing is more calculated than you might think. 🐕‍🦺 #AnimalRights #BeagleRescue

Thank you, @americanscientist.org and Barbara Aulicino, for including Lab Dog in your Science Book Gift Guide! 🩶 #booksky, #dogs, #animals, #animalresearch 💙📚

One of my favorite podcast conversations recently was with Cara Santa Maria on Talk Nerdy. We covered many topics, including feeling like an imposter as a journalist, being explicit about biases in research, Cara's dog Killer and of course Hammy. www.carasantamaria.com/podcast/mela...

The weather outside is frightful, but it'll be cozy and fun next Wednesday when I get to chat with Homeward Trails's super Sue Bell and hang with beagles. :- ) Tickets still available! homewardtrailsanimalrescue-bloom.kindful.com/e/book-signing 📚💙 #dogs, #animalresearch, #booksky

Hey DC/MD/VA! Hope you can join me for some of these upcoming events, starting tonight with Mary Hollingsworth at @dcpubliclibrary.bsky.social! #booksky, #dogs, #animalresearch 📚💙

What a lovely surprise to see Lab Dog reviewed in @nature.com, in bibliophile Andrew Robinson’s piece on “five of the best science picks.” Lab Dog, he said, is a “passionate, conflicted book.” I agree!💙📚 #animals, #dogs, #booksky

I'm excited for this conversation with Mary Hollingsworth next week! Mary was former lead counsel for the DOJ on animal welfare enforcement matters, including United States v. Envigo--you can read all about that case in Lab Dog! Join us Wednesday, @dcpubliclibrary.bsky.social, NE branch!

DYK I have a quarterly newsletter? I'll be writing a new one soon, so if you'd like to see that in your in-box and haven't already subscribed, you can do so on my website. The website is also good place to learn about upcoming book events! melaniedgkaplan.com/connect.html

Jeremy Loeb @emptythecages.bsky.social is a former NPR reporter-turned-animal activist podcaster. I really enjoyed our conversation yesterday! Thanks, Jeremy. Have a listen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki3D...

Great episode of Alan Alda's Clear + Vivid podcast with @jelaniya.bsky.social, dean of @columbiajournalism.bsky.social You'll hear how AI will disrupt journalism, what "free speech" means under the Trump administration, and how journalism is a public good.

Tune in tonight for a book talk hosted by The D.C. Science Writers Association--I'll be talking about Lab Dog, and Lindsay "Bones" Cordero will be discussing the new kids book she wrote and illustrated about dogs who sniff out truffles--who knew! Register at this link! dcswa.org/event/book-t...

Hammy used to work at @capitolhillbooks.bsky.social with me, and here he is on Nora Simon's sweet illustration! Wherever you are, you can buy a bag with this drawing and buy a signed copy of Lab Dog while you're at it. (Buy at least two books and they'll ship for free!) Links in comments.

Lab Dog came out of years of reporting but also one year, many moons ago, at @columbiajournalism.bsky.social. During that year, I took part in a book seminar taught by the one and only Sam Freedman. Now that I'm an author, Columbia Magazine has interviewed me. How sweet that is!

When I talk about the new ways to conduct research and test drugs without animals, I often talk about the @emulatebio.bsky.social organ chip. Here's a great video on these chips from NASA, which will use the devices aboard Artemis II to study how deep space affects human health.

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💙📚

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

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 💙📚

Beagles give Lab Dog two paws up! #animals, #dogs, #animalresearch, #booksky💙📚

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

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...

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...

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...

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.💙📚

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. 💙📚

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!!! 🐶

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!

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/...

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...

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! ⭐️