Trump administration urged to cut cruel experiments funded by taxpayers
A reported $23 billion was “wasted” on government-approved animal tests last year.
The Trump administration is being urged to cut government funding for “painful” and “pointless” animal experiments after it was revealed that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent $23 billion on animal testing last year.
Campaigners say that animal testing is inadequate and wasteful, and point out that 90 percent of basic research, most of which involves animals, fails to lead to effective treatment for humans. Alarmingly, 95 percent of new drugs that test safe and effective in animals later fail in humans.
Tests can also cause immeasurable pain and suffering to the animals experimented on.
Despite these concerns, the government-run NIH continues to spend billions of tax dollars on experiments every year.
The White Coat Waste Project (WCW), a bipartisan government watchdog which says its mission is to expose the US government’s $20 billion animal testing business, is among those calling on the Trump administration to cut taxpayer-funded animal tests.
This week the group has unveiled what it calls a “simple” 4-point-plan for Trump’s first 100 days that will cut billions in “wasteful government spending” and save millions of animals.
Credit: The White Coat Waste Project (WCW)
The plan includes proposals to defund taxpayer-funded experiments on dogs and cats, which are reportedly ongoing at labs all around the U.S.
Another target of the plan includes cutting off China’s animal labs. During his first term, Donald Trump personally cut Dr. Fauci’s funding to the Wuhan animal lab after US ties to the facility were uncovered by the WCW. Yet dozens of other animal testing laboratories in China are still being funded by the NIH, including a Chinese lab that NIH paid over $2 million to cruelly test experimental drugs on puppies and other animals.
WCW’s 100 days of action also calls out the $6.5 billion annual taxpayer-funded budget of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The institute, formerly run by Dr. Fauci, is alleged to be behind some of the “most horrendous” animal testing in the entire government, according to WCW.
These controversial experiments reportedly include ‘maximum pain’ tick bite experiments on puppies, the building of a dangerous new U.S. bat virus lab, and implanting human fetal body parts into lab animals.
A giant PETA “mouse” with the message “NIH Wasted $23 Billion on Animal Tests Last Year!” outside a recent Make America Great Again Victory Rally. PETA are among those calling for the Trump administration to drop the controversial funding of animal tests.Credit: PETA
Critics of taxpayer-funded animal experiments say the government should diverse funds to more modern, efficient, and more humane testing methods that don’t require animals.
“NIH kills animals and flushes billions down the drain every year on painful and pointless experiments that benefit no one,” says Kathy Guillermo, a vice president at PETA, which is also calling on the new administration to redirect funds away from animal tests. “PETA urges our new leadership to redirect taxpayer funds to cutting-edge, non-animal research that could actually produce treatments and cures for humans.”
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