July 06, 2021Animal Law & Policy ProgramIncreased Funding for Animal Testing
Taxpayer funding of animal research in foreign countries raises serious concerns, says former Harvard Animal Law & Policy Fellow Jim Keen.
An analysis by White Coat Waste has found that “the National Institutes of Health has hiked spending on animal experiments carried out abroad by almost a quarter in the last two years, according to Zenger News.
Lawmakers – both Republican and Democrat – and veterinary experts have criticized the costly and inhumane the use of animals in experiments and called on the federal government to use alternative methods of research. Others have been putting pressure on the NIH and other agencies to phase out animal research altogether.
“I’ve seen firsthand how federal regulators can’t even prevent waste and abuse at animal research and testing labs right here in the U.S., so there’s no way they can do so at facilities 7,000 miles abroad where they have no authority and even less transparency,” Dr, Jim Keen told Zenger News.
Dr. Keen, who was recently a Visiting Fellow with the Animal Law & Policy Program is a former animal research veterinarian who worked in federally funded laboratories he now campaigns against testing and has worked with White Coat Waste Project.
He added: “Taxpayer funding of animal research in foreign countries raises serious concerns about animal welfare, transparency and research oversight that the NIH has not adequately addressed.”
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