In a statement released to the Daily Mail, the Los Angeles V.A. has announced that it is shutting down its two-decades-old program that bred and experimented on Dobermans following White Coat Waste Project (WCW)’s campaign and pressure from a congressional coalition led by Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Ted Lieu (D-CA), and supported by LA-area Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Lou Correa (D-CA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Norma Torres (D-CA). Florida Congressman Vern Buchanan (R-FL)–a military veteran and co-chair of the House Animal Protection Caucus–also recently criticized the V.A.’s dog experiments and called for an investigation.
The announcement comes less than a day after a brave Iraq war veteran came forward to WCW with photos and other disturbing details about the Los Angeles VA’s dog lab, calling it a “house of horrors.”
In the secretive Los Angeles V.A. project that began approximately 20 years ago and was not exposed until last month by WCW, countless Dobermans were bred to suffer from narcolepsy. In a recently approved experiment discovered by WCW through the Freedom of Information Act, 24 more dogs were slated to be bred, injected with methamphetamines daily for six months, killed and dissected.
Anthony Bellotti, president and founder of White Coat Waste Project, stated:
We’re proud of this victory for taxpayers, veterans and man’s best friend. This long overdue reform will help the Los Angeles V.A. get back to the business of caring for and housing our nation’s veterans, instead of wasting time, tax money and facilities operating a nightmarish dog laboratory and breeding colony. With Los Angeles closing down, only three V.A. facilities are still forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for heart attack experiments on puppies and other painful studies and White Coat Waste Project and it’s 400,000 liberty-loving and animal-loving supporters will continue to hold V.A. accountable until they stop. One down, three to go.
Now, only three VA animal research facilities are still conducting invasive and painful experiments on dogs at taxpayer expense: Richmond, Milwaukee and Cleveland.
