Bipartisan legislators are demanding answers from US President Joe Biden’s medical advisor, Dr Anthony Fauci, after non-profit organisation White Coat Waste Project accused the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of funding a “cruel” project in Tunisia that involved infecting dogs with disease-causing parasites, reports The Hill.
Concerns were prompted after the non-profit cited a study published in July which detailed the experiments. The “Funding Statement” confirmed that the funds were given by NIAID to Elyes Zhioua, from the Institut Pasteur de Tunis, and Abhay Satoskar from Ohio State University.
Some 44 beagle pups were sedated in a laboratory in Tunisia, North Africa to test an experimental drug, it was claimed.
Documents cited by the organisation and reported by Gareway Pundit state that the Institutes of Health division led by Fauci shipped part of a $375,800 grant to the lab where experiments involved the dogs having their heads locked in mesh cages filled with infected sand flies.
The parasite-carrying insects, deliberately starved beforehand, were allowed to feed on the puppies, stated the non-profit, adding a link to a photo of the experiment.
Furthermore, beagles were also locked alone in cages in the middle of the desert for nine consecutive nights to act as bait for more infectious sand flies. Some of the dogs are said to have had their vocal cords removed, allegedly so scientists could work without listening to incessant barking. The animals were later euthanised, according to the report.
“Fauci’s dog testing debacle is now an international disgrace. Not only is Fauci paying for beagle abuse here at home, but he also shipped our tax dollars overseas to have beagles eaten alive by insects in an African lab with no oversight from U.S. authorities. Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to foot the bill for this government waste and abuse. Congress must take action to investigate the full extent of Fauci’s dog testing debacle,” stated Mackie Burr, director of digital and grassroots development at the White Coat Waste Project.
The dogs involved in the experiments are believed to have been between six and eight months old.
"The commissioned tests involved injecting and force-feeding the puppies an experimental drug for several weeks, before killing and dissecting them," said the lawmakers' letter, according to the outlet. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who led the effort to write a letter to the National Institutes of Health, slammed “cruel” cordectomy procedures (removing the dogs' vocal cords) and “reprehensible misuse of taxpayer funds.”
Questions were asked as to why the research was funded when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) government agency does not require new drugs to be tested on dogs.