The National Institutes of Health defended a grant awarded to a study experimenting on 2-month-old kittens after the agency promised to “phase out” dog and cat testing.

While anti-animal testing groups condemn “deadly” dog and cat studies as morally wrong, the NIH defended certain experiments as “well-justified and responsible.”

Recommended Stories

• Trump administration to destroy abortion-inducing materials bought through Biden USAID contracts
• Marty Makary outlines FDA crackdown on illegal foreign vape products in warning to China: ‘Going to take this seriously’
• Missouri attorney general sues Planned Parenthood over abortion pill advertising

One of the studies funded by the NIH involves kittens being euthanized after researchers study the effects of a procedure in which surgeons separate the sedated cat’s ribs, cut near their hearts, and place a band around their aorta.

The NIH said the kitten study is a “well-justified and responsible use of animal models” that boosts animal and human health. It also said “scientists are treating cats naturally affected by the disease.”

“NIH is supporting research on a promising new therapeutic for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — the most common heart disease in cats — with the goal of informing the development of treatments for humans,” an NIH spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.

When presented with information from the Washington Examiner that the cats in the study were kittens that were to be euthanized after the study and that it was unclear whether the cats had preexisting conditions, the NIH said it is evaluating all animal research and only supports studies under “strict” ethical and legal standards.

“In this grant, scientists are treating cats naturally affected by the disease with a novel therapy that could directly benefit feline health. At the same time, this work exemplifies how studying naturally occurring disease in animals can further research to improve human health. This is a well-justified and responsible use of animal models — specifically cats — and serves as a compelling example of how animal research, when done ethically and thoughtfully, can advance therapies that benefit both animal and human health,” the spokesperson added.

“NIH is rigorously evaluating all animal research to ensure the use of the most appropriate and effective models for advancing human health,” the spokesperson said. “At the same time, this research, particularly studies involving dogs and cats, has yielded life-saving treatments not only for people, but also for the animals themselves. All NIH-supported animal studies are conducted under strict ethical and legal standards, with the utmost care for animal welfare. These dual benefits underscore the broader value of biomedical research and its impact on both human and animal well-being.”

Watchdog White Coat Waste, a government watchdog dedicated to ending animal testing, said the NIH grant, awarded to a University of Pennsylvania study that constricts the hearts of “domestic short-hair kittens,” was recently extended on July 8.

Records show the study’s grants were altered on July 8, but neither the Washington Examiner nor the NIH could confirm whether it was extended to July 2026 on that date. The study titled “Detyrosinated microtubules in cardiomyocyte mechanics” has cost taxpayers around $4.2 million since 2016.

Of the approximately $4.2 million, around $550,000 has been awarded to Philadelphia’s Temple University, which houses the cat portion of the experiments. The study aims to improve heart failure outcomes and has been funded by the NIH since 2016. The grants are administered by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

The Washington Examiner reviewed the funding application for the study and confirmed that 2-month-old kittens undergo “aortic constriction” with a band placed surgically before tests are run on them.

After the several-month study is completed, the kittens will be euthanized, and samples from their hearts and lungs will be collected. It’s unclear whether the experiments have been conducted yet.

The study suggests scientists induce heart failure and other ailments in the kittens.

“These aortic-constricted, domestic short hair research cats develop concentric hypertrophy, left atrial enlargement and dysfunction, diastolic dysfunction, preserved ejection fraction, and eventually pulmonary hypertension and impaired oxygenation,” the study’s funding application says.

White Coat Waste revealed new details on the kitten study exclusively to the Washington Examiner. It said beagles were being infected with parasites and had their vocal cords removed. A bipartisan group of lawmakers pressured the NIH to end the studies before the beagle experiments were shut down in June.

However, the grant for the kitten study continues as the NIH has received pressure from Republican lawmakers to end dog and cat testing, and as the Trump administration has cracked down on animal testing. The Navy ended all studies involving cats and dogs in June, and the Department of Veterans Affairs ended feline testing last year.

The Environmental Protection Agency is also moving toward ending animal testing, even offering some animals at a North Carolina office up for adoption. White Coat Waste previously told the Washington Examiner that the Department of Defense held at least $57 million in contracts involving dogs and cats.

In response to the Washington Examiner’s DOD report, conservative influencer Laura Loomer said she spoke with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and he said he would review the animal testing contracts. The Washington Examiner could not confirm Hegseth’s statement.

As for the NIH, it announced on July 7 that it would no longer seek new funding opportunities for animal testing. Shortly after, lawmakers pressed NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya in a letter to “immediately terminate funding for barbaric dog and cat experiments approved by Dr. Anthony Fauci and his Biden-era successors.”

“We are sending this request with considerable urgency because numerous media reports and ongoing
investigations by the nonprofit group White Coat Waste have documented how the NIH continues to renew and fund dozens of Dr. Fauci’s disturbing experiments on dogs and cats in labs around the world, in which animals are infested with insects, infected with viruses, force-fed experimental drugs, and killed,” said the lawmakers, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) as well as nine other House Republicans.

The NIH posted a video on July 10 in which two heads at the agency said they would “phase out” dog and cat testing.

“I don’t think we should do research on dogs or cats,” NIH Deputy Director Nicole Kleinstreuer said. “Absolutely not.”

“To phase them out, we are working tirelessly behind the scenes,” she added. “We are doing a very critical assessment of the entire extramural grant portfolio to understand where different types of animals are being used and for what purposes, and to create an action plan to phase those out as quickly as possible under the law.”

It’s unclear what phasing out the experiments entails. In a statement to the Washington Examiner, White Coat Waste mocked the organization’s efforts.

“While President Trump’s Pentagon is summarily slashing spending on cruel dog and cat experiments exposed by White Coat Waste, we’ve continued to uncover how Jay Bhattacharya’s NIH is deceiving taxpayers and doubling down on its disgraceful distinction as the government’s top funder of pet abuse,” White Coat Waste Vice President Justin Goodman told the Washington Examiner.

“FOIA documents and other records uncovered by our new investigation reveal that within days of NIH publicly claiming it is ‘working tirelessly’ to ‘phase out; dog and cat labs, the agency extended a grant that’s paying experimenters to surgically induce heart failure in healthy 8-week-old kittens, forcing them to suffer for months, and then killing them,” he added. “This is just one of many barbaric boondoggles renewed or initiated under Bhattacharya. Cutting taxpayer-funded dog and cat torture is an easy win against waste — and if NIH won’t act, we’re backing a new bipartisan bill that will make them.”

Mace reintroduced the bipartisan Preventing Animal Abuse and Waste Act on Wednesday, the bill Goodman referred to, which bans dog and cat testing that causes pain or distress to the animals.

The PAAW Act is co-sponsored by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Darren Soto (D-FL), Don Davis (D-NC), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Andre Carson (D-IN), Dina Titus (D-NV), Jay Obernolte (R-CA), and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

“This isn’t just animal cruelty, it’s bureaucratic cruelty, paid for by the American taxpayer,” Mace told the Washington Examiner. “If the NIH won’t do the right thing on its own, we will make them. These aren’t lab tools, they’re pets, they’re family, and we’re here to stop this taxpayer-funded abuse.”

NIH TO PHASE OUT DOG AND CAT TESTING DAYS AFTER REPUBLICAN COMPLAINTS

The legislation, if passed and signed into law, could end the kitten study at the NIH.

The Washington Examiner previously contacted Temple and the UPenn researchers working on the study but did not receive a response.