Government shutdowns expose brutal realities the animal research industry prefers to hide: animals in labs are not protected by strong laws; their alleged “safety” depends on funding, not on their rights; and neglecting and killing them are considered acceptable cost-saving measures.  

In federally-operated and -supported laboratories across the U.S., millions of animals depend on government-subsidized employees, oversight, enforcement, and funding just to receive the most minimal, baseline care the law allows. But when the federal government shuts down, these animals’ basic survival needs are a mere line item in a budget crisis. 

Here’s what happens in animal research labs during a shutdown of the federal government:

→ “Essential care” continues (but only the barest minimum)

During the 2013 shutdown, 73% of National Institutes of Health (NIH) employees were furloughed, meaning nearly three-quarters of the staff who oversee funding, animal welfare compliance, and research integrity simply weren’t there. 

NIH kept on just enough personnel “to keep research animals . . . alive,” Vox reported. But “alive” does not mean the animals were closely monitored for suffering and distress—they were kept just alive enough to not be considered a total loss. 

In past shutdowns, researchers described being granted only one hour per day to check on animals injected with tumors, unable to intervene as suffering escalated. One NIH scientist told Nature/Scientific American that her mice’s tumors had “grown so large the animals needed to be killed.”

→ Oversight disappears—and with it, accountability

During a shutdown, most federal agency enforcement grinds to a halt. Among these, USDA APHIS ceases “routine animal welfare inspections.” 

Labs are left to entirely self-regulate behind closed doors at the very moment institutional stress is highest and financial pressure is mounting. Without inspectors, staff, whistleblowers, and other witnesses, animals suffer in even more pronounced invisibility. Any and all harm, neglect, or corner-cutting can go unseen and unreported. 

→ Funding freezes lead to mass killing of animals

Shutdowns don’t just reduce oversight; they freeze grant disbursements. And when NIH or other federal funding doesn’t land as planned, universities and contract facilities are left scrambling to pay for animals’ food and supplies, veterinary and husbandry staff, and even electricity bills. With waning funds, labs begin making decisions they rarely admit publicly, like culling “non-essential” animal colonies and euthanizing entire laboratory populations. 

This isn’t hypothetical. At UC San Diego in 2020, during COVID-related shutdowns and funding disruptions, internal guidance urged staff to “consider culling non-essential animals.” Tens of thousands of animals were reportedly euthanized. 

For more proof of how disposable animals are when budgets tighten, check out these 157 pages of “animal death record[s]” we uncovered from SUNY Upstate Medical University, which indicate thousands of animals were euthanized during March–April 2020 (early in the COVID-era shutdown).

To make matters worse: as Humane World for Animals warns, when grant funding is paused during a shutdown, animals may be killed now only to be replaced with others later. It’s a horrific cycle of waste and death driven not by science but by administrative disruption.  (Of course, the awful truth is the vast majority of animals in labs are killed post-experiment anyway.) 

→ Progress toward non-animal, human-relevant science slows

While a shutdown harms animals who are currently captive in labs, it also delays the very progress meant to free them from labs for good. 

Every day of a government shutdown is another day where more ethical and effective research is delayed, meaning animals remain the default test subjects simply because innovation was put on hold. 

Your Call to Action: You can stop this madness. While our members of Congress are away from Washington, let’s flood their inboxes with urgent requests they won’t be able to ignore upon their return. Tell them to support the SPARE Act to put us on a path toward superior, non-animal science. 

✍️ SPARE Animals from Harm in Federally Funded Labs

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