Following a WCW campaign and letters from over 55,000 taxpayers, Republicans and Democrats in Congress are holding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) accountable for torturing animals in useless experiments that three-quarters of voters oppose.
As first reported by the Daily Caller, in a pointed letter to Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Representatives Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Scott Perry (R-PA), Dan Donovan (R-NY), David Cicilline (D-RI), Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Brendan Boyle (D-PA) write:
We are concerned about reports that the EPA’s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) is using an estimated 20,000 animals each year for questionable testing. Recently-published experiments by EPA’s NHEERL show that lab animals were fed lard and coconut oil, then forced to breathe diesel exhaust, ozone, and smog, electrocuted, and ultimately killed. These tests likely cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year, and their relevance to humans, as EPA has often acknowledged, is dubious at best.
The lawmakers go on to request specific information about animal testing at the NHEERL, outside of which WCW recently ran a billboard proclaiming “EPA Sucks.” In a statement, Rep. Gaetz called the testing “horrific and inhumane.”
The @EPA wasteful spending on misleading and bizarre animal testing is out of control. The American people’s #taxdollars should not be spent on torturing animals: forcing them to eat lard, electro-shocking them, and pumping truck exhaust into their noses. https://t.co/igqGslu1ri
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) July 19, 2018
Three-quarters of Americans want to reduce needless government animal testing. I’m proud to help lead this bipartisan effort to cut unnecessary testing at @EPA: https://t.co/iwv2dLHxiA
— Rep. Brendan Boyle (@CongBoyle) July 24, 2018
Disgust and opposition to horrific government experiments on animals is not only growing rapidly, but is becoming bipartisan and trans-ideological. It’s horrifying to any human with a conscience https://t.co/eaq02sx4PG
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 19, 2018
The letter coincides with the House of Representatives recently voting to urge the EPA to reduce in-house animal tests at NHEERL and other facilities following discussions with WCW.
If you haven’t yet, tell the EPA and Congress to dump toxic waste on animal testing!
