By prohibiting the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) from funding animal experiments on foreign soil, the Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas (CARGO) Act (H.R. 4757) is poised to move us one step closer to a world without vivisection. 

If passed into law, the CARGO Act will prohibit the NIH from awarding “grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or technical assistance” of any kind to any foreign entity for experiments on animals. Through this singular prohibition, the CARGO Act is positioned to:

• Reduce harm to animals and save animals’ lives: Because the NIH is among the world’s largest funders of animal experiments, the proposed curtailment of NIH funding can be expected to reduce the number of nonhuman animals used for experiments worldwide. It is also likely to undercut some of the cruelest and least regulated experiments; by financing foreign endeavors, the NIH can facilitate experiments that avoid even the most minimal U.S. legal and regulatory oversight, and this means that the NIH can fund abroad what would be impermissible at home.
• Support better, more ethical science: The use of other-than-human animals as means to human ends is unethical and unjustifiable; at least 95% of new therapies that test safe and effective in animal studies fail in human trials. By shifting the spending of our tax dollars to ethical, progressive, human-relevant science, we can help all at the expense of none.
• Save money: During the decade that ended in 2021, the NIH shelled out an estimated $2.2 billion of our taxpayer dollars – through 1,177 grants and 180 contracts – to 200-or-so foreign organizations undertaking animal experiments in 45 foreign countries.

We at Rise for Animals have united with other animal protection groups to support the passage of this bipartisan legislation.

Please act now. Urge your U.S. Representative to cosponsor the CARGO Act. 

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