UPDATE (3/8/18): After a win in the Senate, the Virginia House has unanimously passed the WCW-backed bill to permanently defund maximum pain tests on dogs and cats. The bill is headed to the governor’s desk!
Originally posted on 2/9/18
In a major win for taxpayers and animals, the Virginia State Senate has overwhelmingly passed a bill to prevent state tax dollars from being spent on “maximum pain” experiments on dogs and cats at the Richmond VA Medical Center and all other facilities in the state.
Bill to ban state funding for painful dog experiments passes Senate https://t.co/TFMLKQCkvw
— 8News WRIC Richmond (@8NEWS) February 9, 2018
The bill was introduced by Republican Senators Bill Stanley and Glen Sturtevant following White Coat Waste Project exposés of how painful dog experiments at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Richmond were receiving state and federal tax dollars. The bipartisan legislation, which now moves to the House, prohibits state funds from paying for experiments on dogs and cats that involve causing unrelieved pain.
During debate, Senator Stanley told his colleagues:
“This is just throwing down a marker, basically, that says we aren’t going to use taxpayer money for what I would consider a deeply unethical and immoral practice.”
U.S. Representative Dina Titus (D-NV) urged her colleagues in Congress to follow Virginia’s lead and pass her bipartisan PUPPERS Act:
It is time Congress follows the Virginia Senate’s lead and passes my bill to stop these cruel experiments on dogs. Great work by @WhiteCoatWaste to help advance this effort across the nation. https://t.co/rEKQr9Toek
— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) February 9, 2018
Last summer, the U.S. House unanimously passed a bill introduced by Rep. Titus and Richmond-area Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) to cut federal funding for the VA’s most painful dog experiments. The Senate is considering the measure now.