Veteran Affairs Ordered to End Testing on Dogs, Cats, and Nonhuman Primates by 2026

Critics of the legislation argue that animal testing has helped advance research that supports veterans with disabilities.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) speaks during testimony by Michael Cohen, former attorney for then President Donald Trump, before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Feb. 27, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) will end testing on dogs, cats, and nonhuman primates by 2026.

Congress approved the bipartisan measure included in the VA’s 2024 fiscal spending bill, which was signed into law last month.

“VA is on the cutting edge of research, and I am proud to say that it will be eliminating the use of research on animals within the next two years—thanks to Judge [John] Carter, and my count, our counterparts in the Senate,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) during a House subcommittee hearing on April 16.

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) is chairman of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies subcommittee.

The spending bill, known as HR 4366, calls on the VA to “implement a plan under which the VA secretary will eliminate research conducted using canines, felines, or non-human primates not later than two years after the date of enactment of this act.”

The VA must also allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct inspections of their testing facilities and submit reports on animal experiments to Congress.

Debate Over Critical Research

The legislation follows a yearslong debate over whether the VA should limit or permit animal testing for critical medical research.

“Working together, we’re pushing VA to find other scientific methods to conduct this vital research,” Ms. Wasserman Schultz continued. “I’m especially proud of this. I’ve been pushing for years alongside the chairman with his support to eliminate harmful testing on animals, and we were able to come to a bipartisan, bicameral agreement in conference last year to make this happen.”

Justin Goodman, senior vice president of the watchdog group White Coat Waste Project, told the Military Times that in 2016, the VA reported that it conducted testing on about 220 dogs, 16 cats, and 18 primates.

“A growing majority of taxpayers—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike—oppose wasteful and cruel government testing on pets and primates and don’t want to foot the bill,” Mr. Goodman reportedly told the news outlet.

White Coat Waste Project is a nonprofit that aims to increase awareness about government research on animals.

The group praised the new legislation in a Facebook post.

“This represents the first time that Congress has directed a federal agency to completely end experimentation on certain animal species,” the group wrote on April 18.

Critics of the legislation argue that animal testing has helped advance research that supports veterans with disabilities. The VA previously claimed that some medical research can only be performed with canines since they are more similar in size and physiology to humans than rats or mice.

“For example, the work that confirmed that PVCs [premature ventricular contractions] cause heart failure had to be conducted in canines because they are the only animals that are known to have a heart electrical system like ours,” VA wrote in 2019.

The VA argues that dogs, cats, and primates are only used in medical testing when “absolutely necessary.”

“VA has historically undertaken research using sensitive species only when absolutely necessary to fulfill our vital mission to care for those who have served in our military,” a VA spokesperson told Military Times in a statement.

Some opponents of animal testing also argue that computer models can be used to conduct necessary medical research.

“But we can build accurate computer models only if we understand how living systems work, and much of what we need to know in order to build the computer models is still available only from animal research,” according to the VA.

The department claims it had already been taking steps to minimize such testing, noting a decrease of over 90 percent in those types of studies over the past two decades.

“Ending tests on dogs, cats, and primates is a welcome starting point, but it’s far from the finish line,” Shalin Gala, vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told the Military Times.