Following a bipartisan request from military veterans Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Ted Lieu (D-CA), and Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV), the VA Inspector General has initiated an investigation of the agency’s suspicious “approval” in early 2018 for continued wasteful and cruel dog testing following a defund and restrictions enacted by Congress and the President.

I’m glad that the Inspector General has agreed to take a closer look at the use of dog testing at the VA at my request. The American people deserve answers about this harmful and unnecessary practice. pic.twitter.com/9O79qeoY5v

— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) February 7, 2019

Five House members have urged the VA Inspector General to find how many VA studies still use dogs following the approval of a law last year that sought to prevent them. https://t.co/6iuUMoUTRu

— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) February 7, 2019

Original post 12/18/18

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers is demanding an “immediate investigation” into the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) potentially unlawful continuation of wasteful and deadly dog experiments, including heart attack tests in puppies.

BREAKING: Members of Congress call for an immediate investigation after an @8NEWS investigation exposes conflicting reports about who approved those continued dog experiments @DeptVetAffairs https://t.co/QZKcPKWQFK

— Kerri O’Brien (@Kerri8News) December 18, 2018

According to reports last month by USA Today and Richmond, Virginia’s ABC affiliate WRIC, former VA Secretary David Shulkin denies the VA’s recent claims that as Secretary he gave personal approval–which is required by law in order to use tax dollars–for the VA’s dog experiments to continue.  Documents obtained by White Coat Waste Project via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) also show that VA was poised to purchase and kill more puppies despite new restrictions on the practice and, apparently, without the Secretary’s required approval.

Now, Congress members Dina Titus (D-NV), Dave Brat (R-VA) and military veterans Ted Lieu (D-CA), Brian Mast (R-FL) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL) have a sent a pointed letter to VA Inspector General Michael Missal requesting an “immediate investigation” into the approval process, and criticizing what they call, “the VA’s persistent lack of transparency and accountability in its use of this cruel practice.”