The Department of Defense Is Spending $1 Million to Test Drugs on Dogs

For years, the White Coat Waste Project (WCW) has been shining a light on a massive problem that most people may not even know exists: government spending on animal testing using taxpayers’ money.

In these tests, animals — including dogs and cats — are kept in horrible conditions until eventually being killed. This week, WCW exposed the Department of Defense (DOD) for spending nearly $1 million on cruel and deadly drug tests using Beagles. 

The DOD’s unnecessary animal testing

The WCW found federal records showing the U.S. Army commissioned an experiment which would cost $949,108 and involve testing an experimental drug on dozens of Beagles. The project started last year and will continue through July. The DOD’s aim is to use these tests to gain approval for the drug from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“These tests typically abuse dozens of puppies, and they’re killed and dissected at the end,” reported the WCW. During the experiments, dogs are given massive amounts of drugs and not allowed pain relief — often until they’re fatally poisoned. 

Using animals for wound training, trauma experiments, and weapon experiments has been banned by the DOD since the 1980s — but technically, other kinds of drug experiments are still permitted.

Related article

Congress Orders the Department of Veteran Affairs to Stop Testing on Cats and Dogs

Under new legislation, all experiments on dogs, cats, and primates must end by 2026.

The WCW makes it clear that testing on dogs is unnecessary for the creation of new drugs. Even the DOD has admitted that “animal models have limited relevance to humans and poorly predict effects in humans” — and the FDA’s public position is that “the FDA does not mandate that human drugs be studied in dogs.”

The need for new legislation

“The DOD’s barbaric and unnecessary drug tests on dogs and puppies must be defunded and shut down before any more animals suffer and die and before any more taxpayer dollars are wasted,” Goodman told World Animal News.

The White Coat Waste Project is currently working with bipartisan lawmakers to pass legislation against animal cruelty, including the Preventing Animal Abuse and Waste Act (aka the PAAW act). They encourage anyone who supports the PAW act to contact their representatives and have provided a form to do so.

References:

• White Coat Waste Project

• WCW Exposes DOD’S Wasteful and Cruel $1M Beagle Testing 

• Microphysiological Systems (MPS) (Archived)

• PAAW Act

• Drug-Testing on Puppies: New Report Asks for Alternative Testing at FDA Labs