Fauci-led agency spent over $400,000 in taxpayer money on 'deadly and unnecessary' experiments on dogs: Watchdog report

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, directed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, spent more than $400,000 in taxpayer money on abusive experiments on dogs, according to a government watchdog group.

The NIAID directed $424,455 to the University of Georgia Research Foundation in September 2020 to test an experimental drug on beagles. The experiments purposely subjected dozens of healthy beagles to biting flies that were carrying a disease-causing parasite that can affect humans. The records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act request show that the dogs "vocalized pain" during the experiments.

The Daily Caller reported that the NIAID task order says, "28 beagles were to be allowed to develop infections for three months before being euthanized for blood collection."

"The dog experiments are set to be completed by January 2022, however, the task order states that the beagles are to be euthanized 196 days after the start of the study," the Daily Caller reported. "According to emails obtained by WCW, the study began on Nov. 12, 2020, meaning the beagles would have been scheduled to be euthanized in June 2021."

The experiments were deemed to be unnecessary since the investigational drug "has been extensively tested and confirmed ... in different animal models such as mice ... Mongolian gerbils ... and rhesus macaques," according to the White Coat Waste Project, a government watchdog group.

Justin Goodman, White Coat Waste Project vice president of advocacy and public policy, said that Fauci "needs to be held accountable for this staggering waste" of taxpayer money.

"It's not just Wuhan," Goodman said in a statement. "Fauci's budget has ballooned to over $6 billion in taxpayer funding annually, at least half of which is being wasted on more questionable animal experimentation like these deadly and unnecessary beagle tests and other maximum pain experiments. Fauci needs to be held accountable for this staggering waste and abuse overseas and right here at home."

The Daily Caller contacted NIAID and Dr. Andrew R. Moorhead, an associate research scientist and principal investigator during the experiments, but did not receive a response.

In June 2020, the White Coat Waste Project claimed that approximately "65,000 dogs are abused in U.S. labs every year, and likely 20,000 are experimented on to fulfill outdated and burdensome government regulations."

In August 2020, there was a bipartisan group of 18 Congress members who called on the Food and Drug Administration to stop inhumane dog testing. The Congress members wrote in their letter, "Dogs — even small puppies — are made to ingest or inhale large doses of drugs for months on end before being killed and dissected."

The federal government reports that 9 out of 10 drugs fail in human trials after passing animal tests because they are ineffective or toxic.