National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya announced that the agency has shuttered its last in-house beagle labs.
During an interview with Fox & Friends Weekend, Bhattacharya said, “It’s very easy, for instance, to cure Alzheimer’s in mice. But those things don’t translate to humans. 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.”
“We got rid of all of the beagle experiments on NIH campus,” he declared. Bhattacharya further stated that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sent him flowers to honor the lab’s closure.
“Normally, I think NIH directors tend to get physical threats, but they sent me flowers,” he said.
Government watchdog group White Coat Waste Project (WCW) celebrated the lab closure, with the organization’s President and Founder Anthony Bellotti saying, “As the watchdog that first uncovered and battled Dr. Fauci’s beagle tests (the biggest animal testing scandal in history), we’re proud that White Coat Waste has closed the NIH’s last in-house beagle laboratory—and the US government’s biggest dog lab.”
“First, White Coat Waste ended dog testing inside the Dept. of Veterans Affairs—the fed’s most painful dog labs. Now, we’ve done it again at the NIH—the US government’s largest dog lab. Taxpayers and pet owners shouldn’t be forced to pay for the NIH’s beagle abuse, and now, following a White Coat Waste campaign, they won’t have to,” Bellotti added. ” This has been our top priority for the Trump Administration. 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!”
According to WCW, more than 2,133 beagles were killed in septic shock experiments over 40 years. Between March 2021 and March 2022, 41 beagles were killed in an NIH lab.
