People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is applauding a letter sent Thursday by Republican lawmakers to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, urging the agency to stop using taxpayer dollars for experiments on animals conducted in foreign laboratories.
The letter, signed by Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., highlights concerns about the lack of oversight and inadequate standards in certain foreign facilities.
The bipartisan Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas (CARGO) Act—led by the Republicans along with Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.—seeks to end NIH funding for animal experiments outside the U.S. and ensure taxpayer dollars are not misused for the unnecessary suffering of animals.
Between 2011 and 2021, the NIH issued more than $2.2 billion in grants for controversial research in 45 countries.
According to the letter, the ‘research’ included genetically altering cats to be born with deformed legs, infecting bats with diseases that were transmissible and fatal to humans, and force-feeding mice human feces.
Nehls and Scott noted there are little to no inspections at the facilities where research is conducted or where the animals are housed, and there is inadequate auditing of foreign NIH-funded animal studies, resulting in significant gaps in oversight and accountability of how taxpayer dollars are being used.
‘It is deeply concerning that American taxpayer dollars have been used to fund harmful and abusive animal experiments overseas that lack the same oversight and accountability as labs here in the United States,’ Nehls and Scott wrote in the letter. ‘…It is a waste of resources that should be allocated to more ethical and effective research practices that do not involve animals.’
PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo said the organization is grateful to Nehls, Scott, Titus and Booker for serving as the lead sponsors of the CARGO Act.
‘This effort represents a significant step in halting cruel and wasteful animal experimentation abroad, and it aligns with the Trump Administration’s broader shift toward more relevant, non-animal research methods,’ Guillermo wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘We are excited to continue working alongside these dedicated lawmakers to pass the CARGO Act and ensure that taxpayer money is no longer used to support pointless and unethical research.’
The CARGO Act was introduced following a PETA investigation into Caucaseco Scientific Research Center, a discredited Colombian laboratory with a history of violating animal care standards.
Caucaseco Scientific Research Center received more than $17 million in U.S. funding, and the Biden administration’s NIH encouraged additional funding, even after it was caught confining monkeys in filthy conditions, leaving them to die from infected wounds, and starving mice to the point of cannibalism, according to PETA.
The PETA investigation reportedly led to multiple investigations by local authorities, the rescues of 108 monkeys and 180 mice, and the retraction of a research publication.
‘The letter’s request for NIH to immediately cease funding animal experiments in foreign labs is a crucial step toward protecting animals and ensuring taxpayer dollars are used responsibly,’ Guillermo wrote. ‘PETA remains committed to advocating for legislative and policy changes that prioritize ethical, practical, and non-animal research.’