The House voted Wednesday to adopt an amendment to the defense spending package that defunds painful dog experiments at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
By a voice vote, the House adopted the amendment introduced by GOP Rep. Dave Brat and Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, which states that “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to purchase, breed, transport, house, feed, maintain, dispose of, or experiment on dogs as part of the conduct of any study assigned to pain category D or E, as defined by the Department of Agriculture.”
Republicans Reps. Brian Mast, Ted Poe and Democratic Reps. Ted Lieu and Ro Khanna co-sponsored the amendment.
The amendment’s addition to the defense package follows on the heels of a whistleblower from the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA coming forward to show pictures of dogs used in painful experiments.
“To see dogs that distraught, it’s hard,” Todd Woessner told 8News.
Most of the images came from experiments conducted in late May. These experiments are still ongoing at the facility, according to Woessner.
The White Coat Waste Project, a group active in pointing out the fiscal burdens imposed by dog experiments, said in a statement that taxpayers should not have to fund both wasteful and painful dog experiments at the VA.
“We applaud Reps. Brat and Titus and the House of Representatives for taking bold, bipartisan action to defund nightmarish dog abuse and restore accountability at the VA,” White Coat Waste president Anthony Bellotti said.
“Liberty-lovers, animal-lovers, soldiers and veterans across the country are sick and tired of being forced to pay for painful, noncompliant and wasteful VA experiments on puppies that were exposed by White Coat Waste Project,” Bellotti added. “We’ll continue working with Congress to get this bill to the President’s desk and to pass the PUPPERS Act to end the VA’s painful taxpayer-funded dog experiments for good.”
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