Should Medical Experiments on Puppies Be Eliminated?

What’s the story?

• The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and its leader, Dr. Anthony Fauci, are facing bipartisan criticism after a report by an advocacy group revealed it used taxpayer funds to conduct experiments on beagle puppies.
• Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) led a group of bipartisan lawmakers in writing a letter calling on Fauci and NIAID to explain beagle experiments that were recently revealed by a watchdog group known as the White Coat Waste Project. 
• The letter cited a test in which 44 beagle puppies between six and eight months of age were administered an experimental drug by injection or forced-feeding. A “cordectomy” was performed on the dogs to slit their vocal cords and prevent them from barking, howling, or crying before they were reportedly euthanized and dissected at the end of the experiment, which cost $1.68 million. 
• Lawmakers expressed grave concerns about the “costly, cruel, and unnecessary taxpayer-funded experiments” commissioned by NIAID and called the experiment “a reprehensible misuse of taxpayer funds.”
• NIAID’s documents said the tests were intended “to provide data of suitable quality and integrity to support application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory agencies,” despite the FDA stating that it “does not mandate that human drugs be studied in dogs.”
• Regarding the vocal cordectomies performed on the dogs, NIAID explained in a statement that they were “conducted humanely under anesthesia” and may be used in research facilities with numerous dogs present “to reduce noise, which is not only stressful to the animals but can also reach decibel levels that exceed OSHA allowable limits for people and can lead to hearing loss.” 
• Both the American Animal Hospital Association and American Veterinary Medical Association oppose the devocalization procedure except in rare circumstances.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / RyanJLane)