Animal lab workers are often told their distress is “just compassion fatigue.” But for many, the experience runs deeper.
When your work repeatedly asks you to act in ways that conflict with your values, especially in systems where harm is normalized, this can lead to moral injury.
Leyla holds a B.Sc. in Molecular Biomedicine & an M.Sc. in Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience. She began her career in animal research laboratories studying neural signaling pathways in mice before leaving the field for ethical & scientific reasons.
📌 Register for webinar: bit.ly/TheHumanCost
📣 We are excited to introduce Leyla Fox, M.Sc., one of the three panelists and former animal lab workers featured in Justify’s upcoming webinar on Thursday, April 23 — The Human Cost of Animal Research: When Compassion Becomes Moral Injury.
📌 Register for the webinar now: bit.ly/TheHumanCost
Read Emily's blog here: www.whenwejustify.org/post/leaving...
✨ THIS JUST IN: Former lab worker, Emily, reflects on how she stumbled onto a career path in animal research that initially felt exciting and meaningful but grew to feel at odds with her gut and identity.
Read Emily's blog here: www.whenwejustify.org/post/leaving...
I need you to know that "Punch" is in primate laboratories all over the world.
What do I mean by this? I spent two years as a caretaker for 500+ macaques at the UW-Madison's Harlow Primate Lab. Caring for rejected newborn macaques, like Punch, was one of the most gut-wrenching parts of the job. ⬇️
7 / Advocate for a future where science progresses without suffering
6 / Build cultural understanding of what actually happens inside labs
5 / Support workers transitioning into human-relevant scientific fields
4 / Dismantle barriers that block the adoption of non-animal research methods
3 / Inform policy and regulatory conversations with on-the-ground insight
2 / Surface worker stories and lived experiences
1 / Provide trauma-informed support and healing pathways
Justify works with current and former lab workers, psychologists, and scientists to… ⬇️
🎉 Justify's first webinar, The Human Cost of Animal Research: When Compassion Becomes Moral Injury, is taking place Thursday, April 23 from 4-5 pm PST!
Learn more and register here: https://bit.ly/TheHumanCost
Show Justify some love this Valentine's Day by sporting our official merch!
Get yours here: https://www.whenwejustify.org/category/all-products
♥️ for animals.
♥️ for humans.
♥️ for science.
Ever wonder if other animal lab workers feel the same conflict you do? Turns out they do, and Justify’s Lab Worker Hub is where they connect: https://www.whenwejustify.org/lab-worker-hub
Ever wonder if other animal lab workers feel the same conflict you do?
Turns out they do, and Justify’s Lab Worker Hub is where they connect: www.whenwejustify.org/lab-worker-hub
Guess who *just* dropped merch?! 🤗
www.whenwejustify.org/category/all...
Justify exists to stop rationalizing harm, start healing the people impacted by it, and help build a better, more ethical, human-relevant future for science.
I am so excited to be giving a talk on behalf of @justifyglobal.bsky.social at UIC Law!
🫂 Attendance is open to anyone (not just law students), but space is limited.
🌱 A plant-based meal will be provided.
🎥 This event will be filmed for an upcoming documentary.
🌟 Register here: bit.ly/KrasnoUIC
As Dr. Jamie McNally states, “Not all animal-related wounding is the same. The circumstances of the trauma, and our relationship to it, influence whether we develop PTSD, compassion fatigue, moral injury, or some combination of these conditions.”
Mislabeling moral injury as compassion fatigue can leave people unsupported and suffering. People can’t heal from something that is never named.
Check out Justify’s Lab Worker Hub for resources, community, and a path forward. 🫂
Cont. ⬇️
If you’re struggling emotionally from working in an animal research lab, you may have been told it’s “just compassion fatigue.”
While compassion fatigue is real and deserves support, many lab workers are also asked to participate in tasks that conflict with their values.
Cont. ⬇️
So many people working in animal research are expected to stay quiet, push through, and carry the emotional weight alone. Justify is here to change that, offering a confidential space where current and former lab workers can speak honestly, feel understood, & begin to heal without shame or judgment.
Justify was founded because too many animal research personnel carry moral distress, grief, and trauma in silence, feeling trapped in a system that harms animals and harms them in the process and unsure who they can turn to.
Read Justify’s founding story here: https://bit.ly/3Lx2s1X
"I was stuck in an academic trajectory that required my ignorance. This dissonance ruined my mental health for years and is something I continue to struggle with. It’s hard to come to terms with actively and personally doing harm to animals for so long." - Matthew Bryson, PhD
✨ THIS JUST IN: Matthew Bryson, Ph.D., reflects publicly for the first time on the 11 years he spent in academic neuroscience. Read Matthew's blog here: www.whenwejustify.org/post/reflect...
🔭 We’re still looking for 9 new monthly supporters to join Justify at $20/month or more. These supporters will receive an autographed copy of Voracious Science and Vulnerable Animals written by our Board Member Dr. John Gluck.
✨ Sign up today: https://bit.ly/4ppDMX5
Animal research harms animals, takes a serious emotional toll on the people asked to carry it out, and often fails to deliver reliable human outcomes. Justify exists to support those affected and help build a future where science advances without suffering.
For animals.
For people.
For science.
The messaging is that there is a way to do science and align with one’s conscience—hence we promote the transition to animal-free, human-relevant science.
