Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who leads the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under President Donald Trump, declared over the weekend that the agency has shut down its final Beagle Experimental Lab. This decision comes in the wake of the troubling Beagle Test Scandal associated with former NIH physician Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“Curing Alzheimer’s in mice is relatively straightforward, but that doesn’t really translate to humans,” Bhattacharya mentioned during a conversation with Fox News host Rachel Campos Duffy on Sunday.
He added, “We’ve suggested a policy aiming to replace animal studies with advancements in technology, AI, and other methods.” When he revealed that he had “eliminated all beagle experiments on the NIH campus,” Campos Duffy exclaimed, “Amen.”
The NIH confirmed this new direction on social media, announcing an “initiative to foster innovative, human-focused research while minimizing the use of animals, including the cessation of all beagle experiments on NIH grounds.”
For several years, the Medical Watchdog Group, known as White Coat Waste, has highlighted that the NIH has euthanized over 2,100 beagles since 1986 as part of a “horrific septic shock experiment.” Reports indicated that the NIH tested pneumonia on the dogs, leading to septic shock, and would subsequently kill them after four days of infection.
“As the group that exposed and fought against Dr. Fauci’s Beagle Test—considered the largest animal testing scandal—we are pleased that White Coat Waste has helped close NIH’s remaining in-house Beagle Laboratory. We commend the President for eliminating this unnecessary NIH expenditure and will keep pushing for the refunding of all dog labs, both domestically and internationally,” the group stated.
Reports suggest that under Fauci’s NIH division, there was funding for an experiment at Kansas State University in 2021. This study involved injecting puppies with mutant bacteria and releasing hundreds of mites on them, resulting in the deaths of 28 beagle puppies each year, totaling 126-138 deaths since its inception in December 2007.
Additionally, another investigation revealed that Fauci’s department allocated part of a $375,800 grant to laboratories in Tunisia for testing on beagles, where they were subjected to extreme conditions, including being enclosed in a mesh cage with starving sand flies.
The animal rights group PETA, along with other organizations, has been critical of animal testing practices, urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect many animals annually.
