Over 1.1 million White Coat Waste Project (WCW) advocates have spoken up for our #GiveThemBack campaign and Congress listened!

Proud to introduce the AFTER Act yesterday. All animals who suffer through government testing deserve a loving home, not a death sentence.https://t.co/jv5JwpmQrM

— Rep. Brendan Boyle (@CongBoyle) May 23, 2019

Violet, a hound rescued from a taxpayer-funded lab by a member of the WCW team.

Taxpayers bought these animals and we want Uncle Sam to #GiveThemBack!

Currently, federal government labs experiment on about 50,000 dogs, cats, primates, rabbits and other regulated animals each year (which excludes mice and rats). Virtually all of these animals will be killed, even if they’re healthy at the end of testing.

Of the ten federal agencies that experiment on regulated animals, only one–the Department of Veterans Affairs–has a policy promoting lab animal retirement. The VA policy, which was enacted last year following WCW advocacy that started in 2017, calls the practice an “ethical obligation.”

Yet, other agencies are still lagging behind. Last year, WCW exposed that the USDA killed over 3,000 adoptable kittens in its “kitten slaughterhouse.” Thankfully, the lab was shut down last month following WCW’s campaign and pressure from Congress, and the remaining cats are being adopted out, which is an agency first.

In 2018, we also convinced the FDA to end nicotine addiction tests on monkeys and retire them to a sanctuary. But, the FDA, like the USDA, has no formal policy encouraging or allowing this across the board.

Thirteen other lawmakers joined Reps. Boyle and Walorski to introduce the AFTER Act: Reps. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-GA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Charlie Crist (D-FL), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Ann Kuster (D-NH), Ted Lieu (D-CA),  Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Brian Mast (R-FL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Pete Stauber (R-MN), and Dina Titus (D-NV).