U.S. Gave Russian Lab $550K for Gruesome Cat Experiments

In 2021, the U.S. sent the Pavlov Institute of Physiology in St. Petersburg, Russia $550,000 to conduct horrific experiments on cats, according to the White Coat Waste Project. 

The Washington Free Beacon reported that one of the experiments from the St. Petersburg lab included 18 cats getting “decerebrated” and then walked on a treadmill

Decerebration involves eliminating cerebral brain function by cutting across the brain stem, losing certain reflexes. In this experiment, the researchers attached electrodes to the spinal cords to direct the cats’ motions on a treadmill.

Six Republican congress members wrote a letter in March asking President Biden to stop the funding.

According to the letter, the National Institutes of Health has approved four Russian labs to receive U.S. taxpayer funding. Additionally, 27 labs in China receive NIH funding, for a total of 31 labs in both countries, according to the Free Beacon.

Sadly, the National Institutes of Health has a record of funding live animal experimentation, with recently reported examples including injecting beagles with cocaine and getting monkeys high on marijuana. The nonprofit White Coat Waste Project has uncovered many of these disturbing projects that were funded with U.S. taxpayer dollars.

While some may argue that animal experimentation is a necessary evil to advance science, there is no reason that the controversial practice couldn’t be funded privately through foundations and universities instead of funding it in Russia and China.

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