Navy halts dog and cat experiments after PETA writes Hegseth about US taxpayer-funded animal tests

The People for the Ethical Therapy of Animals PETA penned a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan Thursday thanking the Trump administration for its ban on Navy-funded dog and cat experiments reported this week and requesting a broader ban on all animal testing in all military branches Phelan on Tuesday terminated all Department of the Navy testing on cats and dogs saving taxpayer dollars and ending these inhumane studies This is long overdue Phelan noted in a video posted to X In addition to this termination I'm directing the surgeon general of the Navy to conduct a comprehensive review of all biological research programs to ensure they align with ethical guidelines scientific necessity and our core values of integrity and readiness PETA on Thursday further urged the Department of Defense to conduct a similar comprehensive agency-wide audit aimed at rooting out waste fraud and abuse in cruel and outdated animal experimentation NIH CLOSES EXPERIMENTATION LABS ACCUSED OF BRUTALLY KILLING THOUSANDS OF BEAGLES FOR YEARSSpecifically the international organization requested the Department of Defense DOD ban the use of animals in Navy decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity tests and prohibit the use of dogs cats nonhuman primates marine animals and other animals at this moment permitted in Army weapon-wounding tests The weapon-wounding tests which were banned during the Reagan administration were reintroduced in when the U S Army Medicinal Research and Advance Command USAMRDC issued a initiative allowing for the purchase of dogs cats nonhuman primates or marine mammals to inflict wounds upon using a weapon for the purpose of conducting anatomical research advance testing or evaluation The Army in with encouragement from PETA cut in taxpayer funding for a brain-damaging weapon-wounding experiment on ferrets at Wayne State University in Michigan While reviewing other branches PETA obtained community records showing decompression sickness experiments at the Naval Clinical Research Command sliced open baby pigs implanted devices and locked them in high-pressure chambers for up to eight days before killing them Researchers are also accused of administering a drug to a pig and inducing a severe escalation in body temperature and muscle contractions before killing the animal Authorities reported potentially faulty sedatives may have prolonged the pig s suffering PETA ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS PRAISE TRUMP ADMIN FOR PHASING OUT 'CRUEL TESTS ON DOGS' AND OTHER ANIMALSIn another episode a rat suffocated to death after an equipment malfunction and the researcher failed to overview the situation for days according to PETA The organization alleged the Navy has wasted more than million in federal funding since for decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity tests on thousands of animals at Duke University the University of Maryland in Baltimore the University of California in San Diego and the University of South Florida Pigs rats and other animals feel pain and fear just as dogs and cats do and their torment in gruesome military experiments must end PETA Vice President Shalin Gala wrote in a message PETA appreciates the Trump administration s decision to stop the Navy s torture tests on dogs and cats and we urge a broader ban across the Pentagon to end the use of animals in Navy-funded decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity tests Army-funded weapon-wounding tests and DOD-funded foreign experiments TRUMP ADMIN CUTS ADDITIONAL M IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR 'TRANSGENDER ANIMAL' EXPERIMENTSPETA also requested in the letter that Defense Department functionaries prohibit funding of tests on animals at foreign institutions In one experiment in Canada which is receiving in DOD funding a University of Alberta experimenter is using dogs as models of a muscle wasting illness In another ongoing DOD-funded foreign experiment in Australia which is receiving a James Cook University researcher is burning of rats body surface with scalding water and into their livers inflicting an u ncontrolled hemorrhage The Department of Defense Secretary of the Navy's office and Navy Office of Information did not right now respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment