White Coat Waste Project recently filed a federal complaint detailing how the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Cleveland lab abused cats and conducted over three dozen illegal taxpayer-funded animal experiments for the better part of a year. We’re demanding that they give back the money they squandered, as is required by law.

Given this abhorrent track record of waste, fraud, and abuse, it probably won’t be shocking that Joe Biden’s Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough is on a personal mission to ram through a new cat experiment at the Cleveland VA and he and his colleagues are lying to Congress about the project.  We’ve got the receipts!

Citing WCW’s investigation of the VA’s plans to restart cat testing, U.S. Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Brian Mast (R-FL)—the Members of Congress who led the charge to stop the VA’s cat experiments, including by introducing the bipartisan CATS Act to defund all of it—demanded answers from McDonough about the controversial plan.

Now, after months of stonewalling the lawmakers and following increasing pressure from WCW and its members, the VA has finally responded, and it’s a real doozy.

As first reported by TimCast, the VA’s recent response to Reps. Titus and Mast is littered with falsehoods about the $50,000 proposal, which contradicts the agency’s OWN documents obtained by WCW.

Let’s dig in:

VA claim #1: “This experiment is…required for the regulatory approval of the experimental medical devices.”

FACT CHECK: Cat testing is not required by any federal law or policy, and the FDA’s burdensome animal testing mandate was ended in December 2022 after efforts led by lawmakers including Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and WCW’s Cut FDA Red Tape campaign.

In its letter to Congress, the VA admits that it hasn’t even asked the FDA whether the cat tests are needed. Remember when Fauci canceled his unnecessary dog tests after a WCW campaign, and his conversations with the FDA that determined the dog tests weren’t warranted? Seems like an important step.

VA claim to Congress #2: Cats will undergo “6 months of painless observation and evaluation.”

FACT CHECK: The VA’s own approved experimental application obtained by WCW explains that the experiments involve subjecting all seven cats to pain and distress from the device implants and wiring going through open wounds in their skin.

VA claim to Congress #3: “Cats will not be euthanized as part of this study”

FACT CHECK: As we previously pointed out, not only does this project involve pain and distress, but the cats may develop infections, brain damage, or other untreatable conditions that prompt the white coats to kill them. This is exactly what happened in previous Cleveland VA device tests on cats.

VA claim to Congress #4: “Each cat will be paired with a forever home.”

FACT CHECK: As we previously pointed out and explained above, some of the cats may get sick and die from the Cleveland VA’s experimentation. And we’ve busted the Cleveland VA in the past for lying about adopting out “friendly” dogs that it really killed.

Currently, no lab at the VA or any other federal agency is abusing cats in painful experiments. WCW shut them all down.

Help us stop these new VA cat tests before they start.