Congressional Representatives Call for NIH Data on Canine and Feline Research Facilities

January 22, 2024 TruthUSA

A bipartisan group of 23 congressmen have sent a letter to the National Institutes of Health demanding details on the agency’s funding of experiments on dogs and cats.

The letter cites the White Coat Waste Project’s BeagleGate exposé of dog labs and other ongoing probes into NIH-funded dog and cat experiments that they consider to be cruel and outdated.

The lawmakers, led by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., and Dina Titus, D-Nev., wrote that, “we are alarmed by the pain and suffering being inflicted on dogs and cats in NIH-funded labs with taxpayer dollars.”

The congressmen go on to request details on how much taxpayer money NIH spent on these experiments last year, a list of all the experiments it funded, details on any NIH efforts to cut dog and cat testing, and an accounting of how many dogs and cats have been retired from NIH-funded labs.

“On both sides of the political aisle, Americans don’t want the government conducting painful, cruel experiments on dogs and cats,” Steube said in a statement. “Right now, our tax dollars are enabling these experiments at the NIH. I thank my colleagues for joining me in holding the NIH accountable for their failures to curb experimentation on dogs and cats.”

Titus added that “the National Institutes of Health is the single largest funder of inhumane research on dogs and cats and must be held accountable for its actions. Their resistance to instituting safe, reliable, and cost-effective alternatives to animal testing, despite overwhelming evidence and clear and consistent bipartisan support, is alarming. As other federal agencies work to end harmful experimentation on dogs and cats, the NIH must follow their lead and modernize its testing practices.”

White Coat Waste Project Senior Vice President Justin Goodman issued a statement saying that “we applaud Reps. Steube, Titus, and their bipartisan colleagues for demanding answers from the National Institutes of Health about its tens of millions in wasteful spending on outdated and inhumane experiments on dogs and cats at home and abroad, despite them being opposed by a growing majority of taxpayers across the political spectrum.

The statement continued that investigations by White Coat Waste Project “have documented how the NIH is the government’s largest funder of cruel dog and cat experiments, some of which involve inflicting severe pain and suffering that’s intentionally unrelieved. Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent and shouldn’t be forced to fund barbaric animal labs that butcher beagles and cripple kittens.”