A medical lab that was accused of killing dogs during experiments for over 40 years was closed by the Trump administration.
National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya announced that the last lab that has been accused of experimenting on dogs was shut down. The lab was the last that experimented on beagles on the NIH campus, according to Fox News. Previously, Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency said they would investigate the funding behind the specific NIH-sponsored experiments that killed dogs, specifically beagles, for reportedly over 40 years. The lab reportedly injected the dogs with pneumonia-like viruses to force septic shock in the animals and used the results to study the evolution of pneumonia-causing viruses.
A report from the White Coat Waste Project further detailed the brutal laboratory, and concluded that over 2,000 beagles have been impacted by the deadly experiments. WCW President and Founder Anthony Bellotti praised President Trump for finally ending the lab, and noted it as a significant achievement of the Department of Government Efficiency. Previous administrations had reportedly been aware of the lab’s existence. WCW previously alleged that the experiments were projects created under the tenure of Dr. Anthony Fauci.
In his statement praising President Trump and DOGE’s actions against the NIH labs, Bellotti wrote, “Taxpayers and pet owners shouldn’t be forced to pay for the NIH’s beagle abuse. We applaud the President for cutting this wasteful NIH spending and will keep fighting until we defund all dog labs at home and abroad. The solution is simple: Stop the money. Stop the madness!” Bellotti also praised Trump’s administration for announcing last month that it would begin phasing out funding for other laboratories that did animal experimentation. Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin also recently said that his department would revert to a 2019 policy under the first Trump administration to begin phasing out animal experimentation. According to the Washington Times, President Biden quickly resumed funding for animal testing when he took office in January 2021.
A report from the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals detailed in 2021 how Dr. Fauci had approved funding for overseas laboratories, specifically in Tunisia, that injected beagle puppies with medications and drugs to allow for experimentation. After the report, 23 bipartisan lawmakers sent an open letter to Fauci, urging him to respond to the report from PETA. The organization’s senior vice president of laboratory investigations Kathy Guillermo also praised President Trump, saying she and other PETA executives were “delighted” by the news that NIH would close the facilities.
While Director Bhattacharya confirmed that the lab in question was the final lab doing animal experimentation on the NIH campus, it will take some time for the administration to successfully phase out all programs highlighted by DOGE and WCW. Bhattacharya also highlighted a priority of the Trump administration to replace the work done on animals with technological advancements and improvements, including artificial intelligence.
“It’s very easy, for instance, to cure Alzheimer’s in mice. But those things don’t translate to humans,” Bhattacharya said. “So, we put forward a policy to replace animals in research with technological advances, AI and other tools, that actually translate better to human health.”
