2019 was historic for White Coat Waste Project’s years-long campaign to stop the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) wasteful taxpayer-funded dog testing. As one headline put it, the “VA’s taxpayer-funded dog experiments slow to a near-end” after several key WCW victories that shut down 75 percent of the agency’s dog testing, including the VA’s dog labs in Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Cleveland and “maximum pain” procedures on dogs at the Richmond VA. Then, last month, Congress and President Trump took bold action to relegate the VA’s dog testing to the history books.
Federal spending bill takes a bite out of dog researchhttps://t.co/Zc1ftWLwNl pic.twitter.com/mVwuB63YxD
— 8News WRIC Richmond (@8NEWS) December 28, 2019
The 2020 federal spending bill signed into law includes language lobbied for by WCW that strengthens restrictions on VA dog testing and directs the VA to develop a plan to phase out all experiments on dogs–as well as cats and primates–by 2025 (see section 249 on page 665). This is the first time in history that Congress or the President has given a federal agency a deadline for the end of animal testing.
The historic measure was championed by Reps. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), Dina Titus (D-NV) and Army veteran Brian Mast (R-FL) and Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Air Force veteran Martha McSally (R-AZ). Additionally, over 55 bipartisan lawmakers led by Reps. Titus and Mast requested that VA dog testing be cut in a letter to the House Appropriations Committee in early 2019. Veterans groups like AMVETS, Military Veterans Advocacy and others urged Congress to support the effort as well.
Lara Trump, a longtime animal advocate who has been working with WCW to ensure this issue is a priority for the Administration, also celebrated the major developments:
These wins would not be possible without the support of WCW’s dedicated advocates.
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