UPDATE (7/29/21): This legislation has been passed by the House of Representatives and now awaits action by the Senate.

Original post

Following WCW’s years-long campaign, a key U.S. House funding panel has just voted to completely defund ALL painful dog and cat testing at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

This major move forward comes after nearly five years of pressure from White Coat Waste Project and our three million members, veterans groups, and strong leadership from key members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, including VA funding panel Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Ranking Member Judge John Carter (R-TX) and Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Army veteran Brian Mast (R-FL).

Earlier this year, Reps. Titus and Mast—with support from WCW—enlisted over 60 bipartisan Congressmembers to request that the VA’s 2022 spending bill cut funding for painful cat and dog testing.

The VA has used our taxpayer dollars to fund deadly and unnecessary experiments on dogs at facilities all across the United States. This is inhumane and needs to stop immediately. pic.twitter.com/UnClfu8Juf

— Rep. Brian Mast (@RepBrianMast) June 11, 2021

Last year’s VA spending bill cracked down on wasteful dog, cat, and primate testing and contained historic language directing the VA to formulate a plan to phase it all out by 2025, which the VA has now submitted to Congress.

The defund language just passed by the House Appropriations Commitee would cut all funding for painful dog and cat experimentation starting on October 1, 2021. You can read the bill here (see page 69).

Thanks to WCW’s advocacy, our members’ support, and Congressional leadership, the VA’s abuse of dogs in painful experiments has been cut by 75% over the last five years, and it abuses 70% fewer cats than it did a decade ago. Most recently, we shut down the Los Angeles VA’s deadly de-braining experiments on cats.

The bill now goes to the full House for a vote. Then it goes to the Senate, before being signed into law by the President.

Sign our petition urging your members of Congress to defund the VA’s abusive experiments on dogs and cats!