• Following WCW’s campaigns and lobbying, Congress has enacted legislation to “eliminate” all tests on cats, dogs, and primates at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) by 2026.
• This is the first time in history that Congress has directed a federal agency to completely end experimentation on certain animal species.
• It doesn’t merely phase-out labs. It zeros-out their animal tests.
• Since 2016, WCW investigations have exposed how the VA wasted taxpayer dollars to give puppies heart attacks, inject monkeys with angel dust, and cripple kittens.
• The move comes as WCW fights the VA’s attempt to restart cruel and unnecessary cat experiments at its Stokes lab in Cleveland, Ohio.
• WCW is the only animal advocacy organization to shut down any government primate lab in nearly a decade, any government dog testing labs in almost 20 years, and any government cat lab in the last 40 years.

TRIFECTA: Congress Enacts WCW-backed Bill to “Eliminate” All VA tests on Cats, Dogs, & Primates

Congress has finally started to pass long-overdue legislation to fund federal agencies for 2024. As in previous years, White Coat Waste Project (WCW) has been working hard on Capitol Hill to ensure these bills prioritize cutting wasteful government spending on animal tests.

We’re thrilled to report that following our lobbying and years of campaigning, Congress has just enacted legislation to “eliminate” all Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) experiments on cats, dogs, and primates by March 2026. President Biden signed the bill into law on March 9.

This is the first time in history that Congress has enacted legislation ordering an agency to completely end experimentation on particular animal species.

Since 2018, also following WCW efforts, Congress has restricted—but hadn’t yet completely eliminated—VA spending for cruel experiments on dogs, cats, and primates.

In addition to setting a hard deadline to end the VA’s dog, cat, and primate testing, the 2024 VA spending bill contains new transparency and accountability measures, including requiring regular animal lab inspections and the submission of annual reports documenting animal lab violations.

This successful effort wouldn’t be possible without the outstanding bipartisan leadership of Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV), Brian Mast (R-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and John Carter (R-TX), and Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and John Boozman (R-AR).

Records obtained by WCW describe Copper as a “friendly” and “playful” kitten. The VA implanted electrodes into Copper’s bladder and forced him to pee blood with a remote control. Copper was abused for 14 months and slaughtered at this taxpayer-funded lab.

Since 2016, WCW campaigns, investigations, and lobbying have exposed and ended much of the VA’s wasteful spending for cruel experiments on hundreds of pets and primates that entailed giving puppies heart attacks, drilling into cats’ skulls, injecting monkeys with angel dust, injecting Dobermans with methamphetamines and crippling kittens.

At the VA, we also secured the government’s first-ever agency-wide lab animal adoption policy that’s already saved the lives of dogs and cats who survived testing.

Unfortunately, despite pressure from Congress and taxpayers and funding restrictions, the VA is still experimenting on primates, and Joe Biden’s VA Secretary Denis McDonough is personally trying to resurrect cruel, unnecessary, and illegal medical device tests on cats at the Stokes VA lab in Cleveland, OH.

This same lab is currently under investigation by the VA Inspector General following a complaint filed by WCW documenting how the lab conducted dozens of illegal animal experiments.