A bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require federal agencies to facilitate the adoption or retirement of certain animals after they are no longer needed in government research laboratories.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Martha McSally of Arizona, along with Democratic Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, brought forward the Animal Freedom from Testing, Experimentation and Research Act on Tuesday following a companion bill that was previously introduced in the House of Representatives. The bill, also called Violet’s Law, was nicknamed in honor of the former lab dog who inspired it.
If passed and signed into law, cats, dogs, monkeys, rabbits, and other regulated animals that have been used in experiments by various federal departments could then find themselves in loving homes or non-laboratory placement, rather than being euthanized.
“There is no reason animals that are suitable for adoption or retirement should be killed by our federal agencies,” Sen. Collins said in a statement of her decision to help introduce the bill.
Echoing that sentiment, McSally said, “Every animal deserves the chance to be adopted into a loving, caring home. It’s past time that we give research animals an opportunity to find a new home after they’ve been used in federal research labs.”
Congress’ consideration of what Shaheen calls “common-sense” legislation comes after several departments have taken heat for taxpayer-funded animal tests that have been called cruel, unnecessary and wasteful. These include painful experiments on dogs at the Department of Veterans Affairs and former cannibalistic cat experiments at the Department of Agriculture, among others. In 2018 alone, more than 50,000 animals were used in such controversial research.
After ending its tests on kittens earlier this year, the USDA adopted its retired felines out to employees. Other departments, like the Food and Drug Administration, have sent former laboratory animals to sanctuaries once they are no longer needed or after abolishing the experiments in which they were used. However, many agencies still choose to euthanize research animals because of a lack of policies on adoption or retirement.
Making sure departments have a system in place to instead provide these animals with a safe environment and a second chance at life is the “right thing to do,” according to Peters.
