23 Congress members cite White Coat Waste Project in a letter to NIH urging them to support alternatives to harmful animal testing

The White Coat Waste Project is once again at the heart of demanding (I think that is the correct word in this instance) that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) find alternatives to the cruel animal testing in which they are engaged.

The letter states that these Congress members from both sides of the political aisle are “alarmed by the pain and suffering being inflicted on dogs and cats in NIH-funded labs with taxpayer dollars.”

The letter which is reproduced below, states that troubling NIH-funded dog and cat experiments have come to light through investigations by non-profit, non-partisan White Coat Waste Project (WCW). WCW have campaigned at the heart of government against NIH animal testing for a long time with great success.

The letter lists many examples of animal cruelty and animal testing funded by American taxpayers. For example, in one NIH-funded university lab kittens are being bred to suffer from debilitating genetic disorders that cause loss of muscle control, vision loss, tremors and early death (see the letter).

The letter requests details on how much taxpayer money NIH spent on painful dog and cat experiments in 2023.

Dina Titus, in a tweet, states that NIH “is the single largest funder of inhumane research on dogs and cats and must be held accountable for their actions”. She said that she is proud to lead the letter referred to and urged the NIH to support safe alternatives to harmful animal testing.

It’s clear that on both sides of the political aisle in America, Americans don’t want the government conducting painful and cruel animal experiments using American taxpayer dollars.

This is yet another step in White Coat Waste Project’s campaign to get the NIH to see sense and start finding alternatives to cruel animal testing.

I would like to throw into the mix my personal view about animal testing. Of course, I detest it and with the surge in new applications for artificial intelligence, it is time to utilise AI models which can simulate human biology and predict human responses. AI should be able to reduce the reliance on animal testing and decrease the number of animal testing experiments.

RELATED: Mini Organs Will Reduce Animal Testing

There is a growing public awareness of the need to find alternatives to animal testing and I see artificial intelligence as a means to achieve this goal. It would be nice to see NIH exploring and using them.

RELATED: White Coat Waste Project accuse the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of brazenly lying to lawmakers on cat experiments

Statement from Representative Greg Steube (R-FL)
“On both sides of the political aisle, Americans don’t want the government conducting painful, cruel experiments on dogs and cats. 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.”

Statement from Representative Dina Titus (D-NV)
“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.”

Statement from Justin Goodman, Senior Vice President, White Coat Waste Project
“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. Our investigations 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.”