PETA has lodged a complaint with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) following the reintroduction of a bipartisan bill aimed at banning overseas animal testing. The complaint highlighted NIH-funded experiments in Sweden that caused severe suffering to rabbits over a span of two decades.
record According to documents shared with Breitbart News, the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) allocated millions to Tatiana Deliagina from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, ostensibly to research human posture.
Deliagina received $3,752,020 from U.S. taxpayers for these experiments. PETA discovered that NIH funding was halted during the latter part of Trump’s presidency but was later reinstated and continued through to 2025.
Records indicate that 127 rabbits were utilized by Deliagina from September 2021 to May 2025, though it’s estimated thousands were subjected to these experiments over the past two decades. Moreover, PETA argued that the experiments breached NIH’s own animal welfare standards, which mandate that animals shouldn’t endure more suffering after reaching a certain point before euthanasia.
In the course of these experiments, rabbits had their spines crushed and electrodes implanted in their muscles. There were instances where the brain was disconnected from the spinal cord.
complaint The report submitted to the NIH called for the agency’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) to take several steps. These include revoking the Karolinska Institutet’s animal welfare assurances due to “obvious systematic and chronic violations” of established policies regarding the humane care of laboratory animals.
PETA has urged NINDS to “suspend funding to Dr. Tatiana Deliagina while a thorough review of compliance with NIH animal welfare standards is conducted.” Additionally, they requested that NIH’s Office of Research Integrity (ORI) investigate any potential misrepresentations in grant progress reports and related publications, pledging that corrective actions would follow if any misconduct is confirmed.
This troubling situation was highlighted after Representatives Troy Neals (R-TX) and Dina Titus (D-NV), along with Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), were re-elected. Earlier this year, they reintroduced the Overseas Animal Research Grant Termination Act (CARGO), aimed at halting NIH funding for animal testing outside the U.S.
From 2011 to 2021, the NIH is reported to have spent over $2.2 billion in 45 countries for a range of animal experiments, according to PETA’s data.
“As the NIH strives to eliminate cruel animal testing domestically, it is only logical to stop sending taxpayer dollars to foreign research labs,” Titus commented in a statement acquired by Breitbart News. “We must pass the Cargo Act to prevent animal suffering globally and redirect funds towards more reliable non-animal research alternatives.”
“It’s disturbing that the NIH is bearing the brunt of this horror, especially as we expect similar issues to arise in international animal laboratories lacking U.S. oversight,” remarked PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo.
“PETA urges the NIH to immediately halt funding for animal testing abroad and calls on Congress to expedite the Cargo Act,” she added.
In April, PETA expressed gratitude to the Trump administration for aiding in the saving of tens of thousands of animals annually as the FDA and EPA work toward phasing out such tests.
