Rep. Nancy Mace Demands Answers After NIH Breaks Promise To End Painful Dog And Cat Experiments

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 31, 2026)- Today, Congresswoman Nancy Mace sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. requesting the National Institutes of Health (NIH) follow through on their commitment to end federally funded painful and deadly experiments on dogs and cats.

"The NIH promised the American people they would end this taxpayer-funded animal cruelty and it appears they have not followed through on their promise," said Congresswoman Mace."Taxpayers are being forced to bankroll torturous experiments on puppies and cats, all disguised as 'research.' There is no excuse for this. These are not lab tools. These are our family, our pets. We will not remain silent while innocent animals are being tortured on the American taxpayers' dime."

Despite NIH leadership's commitment last July to phase out funding for harmful dog and cat research, records obtained by the non-profit watchdog White Coat Waste show the agency awarded millions in new grants throughout fiscal year 2025 for painful experiments on dogs and cats both in the U.S. and in foreign countries.

Senior Vice President at non-profit watchdog White Coat Waste, Justin Goodman, praised Rep. Mace's relentless fight to hold NIH accountable:

"No one in Washington has done more than Rep. Nancy Mace to hold the NIH accountable for Fauci's painful experiments on kittens and puppies since White Coat Waste first exposed them, and we're proud to work with her and the Trump administration to erase Fauci's fingerprints from the NIH and put the final nail in the coffin of all NIH's wasteful dog and cat labs in the U.S. and overseas," said Goodman.

Even worse, as recently as this month, NIH renewed funding for grants which:

• Induce strokes in puppies and kittens
• Deliberately breed dogs to go blind and suffer from bleeding disorders
• Subject animals to other painful, abusive experiments, all on the taxpayers' dime

In her letter to Secretary Kennedy, Rep. Mace requests a detailed update by February 20, 2026, on all steps NIH has taken to phase out dog and cat research since its July 2025 commitment. If the agency has not already done so, she demands NIH adopt a policy prohibiting new and existing projects from using NIH funds to support harmful dog and cat research.

Congresswoman Mace's Track Record on Ending Animal Cruelty

Rep. Mace's bipartisan efforts have already eliminated funding for cruel dog and cat research across multiple federal agencies. Most recently, she secured language in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law last December, ending these experiments at the Department of War. READ HERE.

She has introduced legislation to end taxpayer-funded animal abuse, including the PAAW Act, Violet's Law, PRIMATES Act, and the TRANS MICE Act. Rep. Mace also chaired a high-profile oversight hearing on "Transgender Lab Rats and Poisoned Puppies: Oversight of Taxpayer-Funded Animal Cruelty" to hold federal agencies accountable for wasteful and inhumane research practices.

SEE LETTER HERE:

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