NIH: Fund Science, Not Beagle Suffering

In response to recent concerns about the funding of experiments on dogs by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Physicians Committee has requested that the NIH (1) conduct an internal review to assess how these experiments were approved and funded, (2) make that review public, and (3) make fundamental changes to its granting policies and practices, prioritizing ethical human-based models, so that experiments like these do not receive funding in the future.

Experiments on dogs and other animals remain business as usual for NIH-funded research, which kills tens of millions of animals every year. These experiments are deservedly criticized for their lack of scientific value. The current scandal highlights the suffering involved. 

The Physicians Committee has long held that infectious diseases and medications must be studied in human-relevant models, such as human cells and tissues, organoids and tissue chips, donated human tissue samples, genomic methods, and in silico, or computer model, methods, as well as in carefully conducted clinical trials in human patients, as appropriate.

“No way, no how, just no,” said John Pippin, MD, FACC. “This must be the worst possible way for humanity to relate to man’s best friend.”