A hospital staff member took this 2019 photo of a cat used in experiments at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. Tests involved placing electrodes in the cat’s bladder and using a device to stimulate urination. The VA in 2024 is seeking to implant wires and sensors in the legs and backs of cats in a separate experiment to test an implant for translating signals from a prosthesis to the nervous system. (White Coat Waste Project) WASHINGTON — Researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs will implant pacemakers in the hearts of 54 dogs that will be euthanized at the end of the tests and surgically embed wires and sensors into the backs and legs of cats in separate experiments that the VA plans to conduct on live animals in 2024, according to agency documents.
Though the Department of Veterans Affairs is under order by Congress to phase out live animal experiments using cats, dogs and primates “with limited exceptions” by 2026, the agency continues to support live-animal research at VA facilities across the U.S., according to the VA.
More than 62,000 cats and dogs are in U.S. labs for live animal experiments run by government agencies, colleges and universities, and private companies, according to the Humane Society of the United States, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the welfare of animals.
The VA has been phasing out live animal testing on dogs, cats and primates since 2018.
Terrence Hayes, the VA press secretary, said the agency is assessing a new congressional […]
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