NIH Has Approved $20 Million in Dog Studies Despite Claims to Phase Out Animal Testing

The NIH has granted more than $20 million of funds for new dog studies despite the agency’s stated intent to phase out funding for animal testing models according to evidence collected by the White Coat Waste Project (WCWP). The EPA, FDA, and Pentagon have all made moves to stop animal testing as it is considered unreliable when testing drugs that will be used for humans. The phrasing of the agency’s statement in July appeared to leave a loophole upon which it will not develop new funding opportunities based exclusively on animal models. Furthermore, the agency said it will prioritize human-based technologies and models, “where scientifically valid and justified.”

“The public shouldn’t believe the NIH hype,” said Justin Goodman, senior vice president of advocacy and public policy. “Despite the headlines and press releases, the NIH hasn’t made any commitments to cut current animal tests or restrict future funding for them despite the White House requesting a 40% spending cut at NIH citing our blockbuster beagle lab and gain-of-function investigations.”

In April, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a “dramatic reduction” in animal studies at the NIH in favor of AI models, which Kennedy said is “much more precise in identifying the impacts of toxics in various products.”

The FDA estimated in 2004 that 92% of all drugs that pass preclinical tests do not get approved for the market, including drugs that use animal testing in the preclinical stage. A 2013 publication notes that the failure rate is as high as 56% for phase 1, 82% for phase 2, and 50% for phase 3, which is a cumulativ 96% failure rate. The failure rate has only increased over time despite the best efforts to make testing more reliable. In 1985, the failure rate was 86%.

WCWP has applied pressure to the health agencies to make reforms regarding animal testing, including well-documented “barbaric” studies that were discussed at multiple Congressional hearings. “Beagle-gate” was a series of Dr. Anthony Fauci-approved studies that involved Beagles getting their vocal cords cut, mesh coverings placed over their faces, and sand flies biting them. Other studies included marbles shoved up the rectums of cats and dogs being stabbed with a device into the heart and forced to run until they die or the device malfunctions.

These were some of the most abusive studies noted, but Goodman and WCWP note that animals are regularly placed in abusive situations even under the best circumstances.

“What routinely happens to animals in labs with our tax dollars would be felony animal cruelty if it occurred anywhere else,” Goodman said. “Aside from the experimentation itself, millions of dogs, cats, primates, and other animals in taxpayer-funded labs are locked in small, barren cages, socially isolated, deprived of food and water to coerce them to cooperate in testing, and forced to live in constant distress and fear.”

The list of recently approved grants for animal studies by the NIH includes treatments for alzheimers, breast cancer, and chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia.

Dr. Marty Makary, who now serves as the FDA Commissioner, has supported the ending of government-funded studies that mistreat dogs. “Puppy Beagles and other dogs are not ours to abuse in barbaric medical experiments,” Makary wrote in December of 2022. He added that the experiments are “outdated, unnecessary, and cruel.”

In an April statement, Commissioner Makary announced the phasing out of animal models for monoclonal antibodies in favor of more reliable alternatives. “For too long, drug manufacturers have performed additional animal testing of drugs that have data in broad human use internationally,” Makary said. “This initiative marks a paradigm shift in drug evaluation and holds promise to accelerate cures and meaningful treatments for Americans while reducing animal use. By leveraging AI-based computational modeling, human organ model-based lab testing, and real-world human data, we can get safer treatments to patients faster and more reliably, while also reducing R&D costs and drug prices. It is a win-win for public health and ethics.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin also announced in April that the agency would seek to phase out animal testing, an initiative that was started during the first Trump administration and halted by the Biden administration. In July, the EPA announced an adoption program for laboratory zebrafish and rats that would also expand to include rabbits and mice.

Despite the moves by the EPA, FDA, and Pentagon, the NIH hasn’t made any definitive statements about ending the practice of animal testing within the agency. WCWP has accused the NIH of mixed messaging, including statements from Director Bhattacharya and Acting NIH Deputy Director Nicole Kleinstreuer. While the agency has said it will work to phase out animal testing, Kleinstreuer said in July that there is no intention of phasing out animal studies overnight because they are “very important and often scientifically justified.”

Kleinstreuer said the agency is working “tirelessly” to phase out these studies, but they are “constrained under the law” to keep paying for grants that preceded the administration. WCWP has called out the administration officials for claiming to work tirelessly to phase out animal testing while simultaneously approving tens of millions in new grants for animal-based models.

“When it comes to animal testing, the NIH is a different breed than other federal agencies because the problem is so deeply enmeshed in its fabric,” Goodman said. “The NIH is the single largest funder of animal experiments in the entire world, wasting about 40% of its $48 billion budget on them every year. Agency bureaucrats, universities, pharmaceutical companies, animal breeders, and torture device manufacturers are making a killing at animals’ and taxpayers’ expense and are lobbying for that to continue.”

Goodman added, “Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to bankroll barbaric beagle tests just so pharma can profit. To erase Fauci’s fingerprints from the NIH, President Trump and Secretary Kennedy must defund dog labs and finish cleaning house.”