WASHINGTON – After U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, raised serious concerns over reports of unnecessary dog testing in an upcoming medical trial by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH announced they would be ending the use of dog test subjects.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the NIH, recently awarded a new contract totaling $1.8 million in taxpayer money to test experimental drugs on animals, including dogs. Ernst demanded answers from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of NIAID, on the unnecessary use of dogs in federally-funded testing by the NIH, specifically in the upcoming NIAID contract, in light of past experiments under Dr. Fauci that included cutting out their vocal cords, infesting the dogs with ticks, and placing dogs in cages with infectious sandflies.
“Dr. Fauci was barking up the wrong tree when he decided to use government dollars on dog testing,” Ernst said. “These inhumane practices have no place in our government – much less on the taxpayer’s dime. Thankfully, after voicing our concerns and shining a light on these heinous tactics, taxpayers can rest easy knowing their hard-earned money is not going towards dog abuse.”
“We’re thrilled that following a White Coat Waste Project exposé and advocacy by Waste Warrior Sen. Joni Ernst, Dr. Fauci’s ‘runny nose’ experiments on beagle puppies have been completely canceled,” Devin Murphy, the Public Policy and Communications Manager at the White Coat Waste Project, said. “This is a decisive victory in the War on Waste, and sends a message to big-spending white coats across the federal government: taxpayers should not be forced to pay for wasteful, unnecessary, and cruel animal experiments. After WCW’s #BeagleGate investigation first exposed NIAID’s barbaric beagle experiments, Members of Congress in both parties, and Americans across the political spectrum, were outraged — and rightfully so. Taxpayers and animal lovers in Iowa and across the nation are grateful for Sen. Ernst’s outstanding commitment to government transparency and the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
In May, reports surfaced stating that the NIH was planning to use dogs as test subjects in the upcoming project. In response, Ernst sent a letter calling for answers to these reports and more humane, alternative test models to be used. Last week, Ernst received a response from the NIH, confirming that dogs would no longer be used in the trial.
