Following pressure from the White Coat Waste Project (WCW) and a congressional bipartisan coalition, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced the first-ever federal policy supporting the adoption of ex-research animals.
The newly penned Adoption of Research Animals policy requires the VA to record details about the animals’ health and behavior, and instructs research programs that use dogs to provide leash training and other forms of socialization so when the animals are retired, they are conditioned to being around people and other animals.
“Given our successful campaigns to end wasteful government experiments on dogs, monkeys and other animals, we want to ensure that the survivors can be freed,” said Justin Goodman, vice president of advocacy and public policy at WCW. “Taxpayers bought the dogs, cats and other animals locked in VA’s nightmarish labs, and we want Uncle Sam to give them back.”
“In the last year, my colleagues and I have made remarkable progress towards eliminating painful and unnecessary dog testing at the VA,” said Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV). “I am pleased to see that the VA has now released the first-ever federal policy encouraging the adoption of dogs and other animals when they’re no longer needed in research.”
In the newly released policy, the VA admits that they have “an ethical obligation” to place healthy, socialized animals with adoptive families.
Last year, WCW exposed the Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Cleveland, Ohio, for lying to reporters, telling them that it had adopted out dogs when in fact the animals had been killed.
Stokes VAMC bought 30 hounds to use in their shockingly inhumane experiments between 2016-2017, costing $38,000 in taxpayer money. In spite of telling reporters that all five dogs obtained in March 2017 were adopted out, WCW obtained records that showed three of the dogs were killed. In fact, 27 of the 30 dogs bought by the VAMC died in experiments.
While medical testing on animals is cruel and needless to begin with — especially given modern technology that is both humane and more reliable than vivisection — the very least medical researchers can do is ensure that, once the horrific experiments end, the dogs can live out the rest of their lives in peace. May this be the first of many policies promoting the adoption of animals used for research.
Stop testing on animals! The animals deserve to be free and happy, with people who care about them and love them. As it should be.Not in a laboratory!
Ban the animal research labs, and find lovely home for all the animals that suffered living through this hell ! So sorry for all the animals that suffered the torture of these cruel researchers. I love every one of these animals – many have never known love. How very sad !
No more animal testing these animals have feelings they feel pain but you abusers dont. Let’s do people abuser testing instead
Lets see if you abusers feel….you’re all a bunch of sick sociopaths. B
You will pay in the pits of Hell!
The majority of the American public rolls on the out of sight – out of mind mindset and low consumer prices no matter the cost…….take the dairy industry issues as one example. This new policy is perverse and morbid! It does not address, fix, or erase the horrors that are done to these animals. This will further enhance the complacency factor amongst the public that does not want to know the truth. Again, the truth about the dairy industry is one example of the public’s willful ignorance; and this policy will further feed into the public’s diluted perception of systematic animal torture does not exist. We can only hope that this is a brief step in the right direction.
Must cover any animal it uses.
Prosecute the torturers doing this so called “research”. Sick of hearing the excuse for these horror
projects are to protect humans. Come on you poiiticians – where are you??? Or are you choking on
benefits stolen from us taxpayers. Pass some remedies now.
Testing on animals needs to stop now, there are no excuses for it.
This is good news but testing on animals needs to stop.
Je nutne ukoncit toto nezmyselne tyranie zvierat! Su to citiace bytosti ako clovek, akym pravom im mame ublizovat, ved nezibeme v praveku, nie sme neandrtalci, spravajme sa ako inteligentne bytosti, ved mame mozog, treba ho vyuzivat na dobro, ale nie na krutosti bezbrannych a nevinnych tvorov…!
I’m not clear on this..are you saying these animal’s will still be used for cruel testing and research, but then available for adoption after their “usefulness” is up? How is this good news? The use of animals for these horrific tests must be stopped. I Wish someone would reply..but you never do. This is frustrating..
L’expérimentation animale doit être interdite partout dans le monde ! Honteux toute cette souffrance et cette solitude sur les sans voix, ceux qui ne peuvent se défendre contre ces monstres de laboratoires ! Ce sont des êtres vivants qui souffrent tout autant que nous et cela doit cesser !
This is a policy, not enforceable legislation. I worked for the government and saw federal policy (and laws) ignored on a regular basis. If they lied about 27 of 30 dogs being adopted out, they will lie about following this toothless policy. With nobody watching, and no consequences for noncompliance, it will be business as usual.
Why dont they support Physicians for Responsible medicine and end animal testing and use non animal methods that re superior. It is not necessary to torture an innocent animal. Why do they do it? Inferior medicine
Thank god compassion is spreading.
It’s a wonder this country can exist at all with so many liars in office, in government, in law, ect. Why experiment on those poor creatures to begin with. How is experimenting on animals going to help us know how humans will be affected. I don’t believe everything researchers say either. Some of the things they do and say seems to be a bit of crap. If you need to experiment to benefit humans, why not experiment on the low lives there are in the prison systems and all the pieces of filth (animal abusers) out there who deserves to be inhumanely treated. No they pick on the innocent animals that don’t get a choice or a voice. Who ever thought to use animals in experiments in the first place was a dumb behind. After all that, to top things off, they don’t find the animals people to love them and give them loving homes, they kill them. In my opinion All OF AMERICA……..STINKS.
Stop funding worthless experiments! Fire Francis Collins he funds the SAME experiments that have been going on for 30 YEARS with no new data! Wasting tax payer dollars while experimenters at universities laugh all the way to the bank and innocent animals suffer through barbaric sadistic experiments that cannot even be applied to humans
Taxpayers should not be billed for science experiments. I d rather have the funds go into animal rescues.
Ditto Cheryl!!!!
I welcome the exposure of the reality of animal laboratories. They have always been cruel and I have never believed in treating animals like this. It’s welcoming too that this policy is now in force because it gives the suffering animals a chance to experience life as God intended it – to be able to love and be loved to be able to trust and be trusted, and to have happiness. Happiness is the design of out existence but only if we make the correct choices – and if we do not (as in the case of animal laboratories) we inflict misery upon an innocent and helpless creature.
How will we answer to God with a clear conscience on judgement day if we have not done good to animals, even if we have done good to people?
One hundred percent support the end of animal testing by and for our government. Any animal should be given the chance to have a loving home. Scientific research has made dramatic advances these archaic and brutal experiments are not necessary.
Stop testing on animals! It is cruel and useless.
NO MORE EXPERIMENTING ON ANIMALS!!!!!!
HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?????
KARMA!!!!!!!!!!!!
It would be better if they stopped all testing on animals all together. These poor dogs and cats don’t deserve to be tested on, then later when they are done with them, to try and adopt them out. They have been thru so much pain and agony, never knowing love. Then give them to someone to care for, not knowing what the experiments have actually done to them. trust is one thing out the window. How could they trust any human to be good to them when all they know is pain from them. This is not fair, and I think they should just stop, and adopt the animals BEFORE they are experimented on! It doesn’t help anyone harming them. Just stop and let them go before it’s too late!
I Agree!!. Were my Thoughts Also!
This is one of the things that moved me from biological research into physics. I will never forget my last day as summer lab assistant in a research facility, being up in the surgery wards they were prepping a young puppy i had gotten to love from quarantine. I wish i had been braver and stolen that young puppy and run. I would go into quarantine to get rats and the older dogs would stare at me with pure hatred in their eyes…the puppy was so sweet and precious. I still have nightmares about this,
Seeing how much falsification, data twiddling and outright lying goes on in biological research “science”, i can say with utter assurance that most of this research is doing absolutely NOTHING to help humans. What this so called research is, is a way of receiving grant money to manufacture results. As a hard scientist, i have lost ALL respect for the biological “sciences”, especially in the arena of medical “science”
thank you for telling it like it is, you are obviously a caring person
terrible
This is a evil and cruel so called practice. Please end the needless torture of these sweet dogs
COMMENTinaccepatable
Just STOP using animals in experiments! Disgusting and SO CRUEL!!!!!
Abut time. Now for the billions of animals who die in agony on the experimenting table.
CRUELTY DONE IN A LABS ARE CALLED “RESEARCH”, THIS IS COWARDLY, CRUEL, SADISTIC, INHUMANE AND HEARTLESS!!!
IT IS TIME TO STOP THIS SADISTIC CRUELTY NOW!!!
Bless these poor animals. Stop all animal testing now.
So very glad this is happening. Another thing we can do as consumers is do not purchase from companies that test on animals AND don’t eat animals! Please have mercy on all animals. Go to crueltyfreekitty.com to check out what companies test on animals.
These poor INNOCENT animals don’t deserve to be TORTURED. Hopefully that will end SOON. BLESZ GHESE INNOCENT FURBABYS
This piece seems to focus on dogs—what about the millions of rabbits, rats, mice, primates, etc.?? Does this policy take them into account? Dogs are NOT the only pets people have for companionship. As a person with pet rabbits, I know they are OFTEN used much more than dogs due to their sensitivity to skin and eye irritation—horrific torture is visited on them by dripping chemicals in their eyes and on their skin—the so-called “Draize” test.
Those FREAK’S who test on Animals I’d pay front row seats to watch you FREAKS get the same treatment
This seems good on the surface, but it is wrong! Adoption of this law is a complacent tolerance of animal torture and speaks volumes of how heartless and tolerant of animal cruelty our elected representatives, and America, have become. Adoption of this law expresses that we Americans approve of systematic animal torture. Don’t buy into their lies of sympathy. Call your Federal representatives and demand they sponser bills to put an end to all animal testing in the US. Don’t buy into their caring good guy lies. How can we expect Washington to put pressure on other countries who ignore animal mistreatment, when our elected representatives condone such horror in the US? Talk about hypocrisy.
Somehow we need to followup on this because I don’t believe that it will be done even if it is in print. Which organizations will check on the progress?
This has to stop!!!!! I would like information on Adopting
Who’s going to enforce these new rules?? So they’re going to tell the very same jerks who just finished torturing these animals to help train these animals so that they can trust human again?? Training an animal takes a lot of love and patient and it’s not going to come from these cold-blooded people who work at a slaughterhouse nor would they spend extra money to hire people to do so. There are just going to be more “unintended accident” happen to these animals which lead to their deaths so that they don’t need to report the animals’ health and behavior after their experiments.
No animals should be tested on as it’s cruel beyound!!! Use people in Prisions!!!! Not innocent animals!!!
What can they do about the ones that mutilated and tortured to death?
Vivisection is the classic example of the Wizard of Oz:
The public’s selfish fears and desires are played upon, and vivisection is presented as the grand “necessary evil” that will save us all. But behind the curtain is the real picture – that it’s all a nasty hoax, and evil never saved us. In fact, just the opposite has been the result, when the truth is known.
Vivisectors are the epitome of narcissistic God-complex individuals. They seek to satisfy their own curiosity, sadistic leanings, and impress one another (and, they HOPE, the public) with their juvenile manipulations of what they deem as merely “physical matter,” to the exclusion of all ethics, morals, and higher consciousness.
As Dr. Anna Kingsford put it:
“The spiritual malady that rages in the soul of the vivisector is in itself sufficient to render him incapable of acquiring the highest and best knowledge. He finds it easier to propagate and multiply disease than to discover the secret of health. Seeking for the germs of life, he invents only new methods of death.”
Exactly, Sue, what about the bloody corpses that they’ve maimed to death for money grants and kudos and fearful worship from society? “Thank goodness they have dogs to use so they don’t use our kids!” say the people. They and their kids are used for experiments constantly, every time they take a new drug or treatment, since animals results do not scientifically apply to us.
Here’s just one example of beagles who never got to “retire” and go to decent lives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl7cCYaSRFs These places have got to be shut down and people stop believing the lies put out by the vivisection machine. Since the Dark Ages they’ve been lying to people and being believed.
At last someone did pay attention & did what they should have been doing all along. Way to go folks.
Animals are not put here to experiment on. We are not animals, these experiments on animals will not help us.
Wonderful news!
Long overdue