• A new White Coat Waste (WCW) investigation has exposed a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded lab at Cornell University that is abusing horses in cruel and wasteful miscarriage and aging experiments.
• Experimenters round up former racehorses, forcibly impregnate them, terminate their pregnancies, and dissect their embryos.
• Documents obtained by a WCW Freedom of Information Act request show that approximately 80 horses will be abused and forced to miscarry in the NIH-funded experiments.
• The experimenters write that horses have “high emotional and economic value” but state the animals will be killed if they are unable to be rehomed after the experiment concludes.
• This lab was first funded by $924,002 in grant money in June 2025. It is slated to receive an additional $3.6 million from the NIH and run until May 2030.
• Last April, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promised a “dramatic reduction in animal testing at the NIH.” However, the NIH, under ‘animal testing czar’ Deputy Director Nicole Kleinstreuer, has continued to renew lab funding and approve new animal testing grants, despite having the power to end them.

White Coat Waste (WCW) has been documenting how the National Institutes of Health (NIH) continues to dole out millions in new funding for wasteful and inhumane testing on dogs, cats, primates, and other animals, despite pledges to drastically cut animal labs.

Now, WCW’s latest investigation has uncovered a new $4.5 million NIH grant paying Cornell University to conduct cruel miscarriage experiments on horses, including those retired from racing.

According to documents obtained by WCW through the Freedom of Information Act, Cornell’s lab — in partnership with the University of Rochester — is artificially inseminating female horses and intentionally inducing miscarriages.

Sixteen mares aged 4–22 are artificially inseminated and have their pregnancies terminated between two and six weeks.

Experimenters insert tubes through the mares’ cervixes to flush out their embryos, which are then dissected.

Over the course of the project, approximately 80 horses will be abused and forced to miscarry by NIH-funded white coats.

Experimenters justify their use of the horses by citing their long lifespans, claiming this makes them ideal models of reproductive aging. Many of these horses have been donated to Cornell after retiring from racing or becoming unable to withstand other intense physical activity.

Grant documents state that the animals may be killed by overdose if they are found unsuitable or unable to be rehomed after the lab concludes.

Even more troubling, one of the lab’s stated goals is to promote the continued use of horses in animal testing, paving the way for their inclusion in future experiments.

The NIH first sent $924,002 to this lab in June 2025. The new project is slated to receive $3.6 million more in taxpayer funding and run until May 2030.

The NIH isn’t simply funding ongoing animal abuse — the agency’s own records prove it is building the infrastructure needed to expand it.

Last April, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promised a “dramatic reduction in animal testing at the NIH.” However, the NIH, under ‘animal testing czar’ Deputy Director Nicole Kleinstreuer, has continued to renew lab funding and allow new animal testing grants to be doled out, despite having the authority to end them.

WCW has proven that public pressure works in the fight against government animal testing. Our previous exposés secured major victories for lab animals at other Trump administration agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Navy, and the Department of Veterans Affairs — and the fight is far from over.

The solution is simple: