Let’s Help Rep. Mace Hold Animal Researchers Accountable!
Last week, Congress finally called out a glaring truth: the animal research industry thrives on secrecy. During a rare House hearing, lawmakers and experts exposed just how little transparency exists in taxpayer-funded animal research. And, it’s worse than most of us realize.
Federal agencies don’t just fail to track critical information — like who they use, and abuse, with taxpayer dollars. They also actively fight to keep from us what information they do track.
As laid bare in the hearing (above):
- To “glean just basic information”, the public must navigate the Freedom of Information Act request system (which is riddled with delays and red tape).
- To “navigate the federal spending databases” for information, members of the public “essentially need a degree in Information Technology”.
- The public remains “in the dark” about how much money “is going to animal experiments” (and how little is going to human-relevant, non-animal research).
This is all “by design” because it’s exactly how the animal research industry wants it. As we’ve said before, only by “keep[ing] everything [] from the light of day” can this perverse industry hope to maintain public support . . . and funding.
“When we find out how tax dollars are being spent, it becomes apparent why federal agencies fight against disclosing it.”
– Justin Goodman, White Coat Waste Project
The (lack of) transparency “issue is severe”, with experts agreeing that the U.S. needs to “get a handle” on how much animal research is being publicly funded. And, this includes how many nonhuman animals are being victimized.
As we know, the only federal law that applies to any animals exploited in research applies to less than 1% of the victims. This means that 99% of all animals exploited by the animal research industry are not even considered “animals” under federal law and are not even counted by the humans torturing and killing them.
Researchers can do anything to any of these animals for any reason and without any accountability.
This must change, and one lawmaker just volunteered to lead the charge.
At the end of the hearing, Representative Nancy Mace voiced her interest in revisiting established federal law to ensure that every animal exploited in research is counted. This would be a game-changer.
By forcing transparency into the industry’s exploitation of nonhuman animals, we would not only expose the industry’s true scale — we would also take a giant step toward ending it.
Please join us in thanking Representative Mace for her leadership and in asking her to take up the cause of amending the Animal Welfare Act to define “animal” to really mean “animal”.