Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough accredited an experiment final yr to implant sensors for a prosthetic hand into cats — a transfer that members of Congress say is “at odds” with new federal legal guidelines meant to restrict the federal government’s use of canine, cats and primates in experiments.

The lawmakers have requested Mr. McDonough to rethink his resolution, saying there are different methods to fulfill the Food and Drug Administration’s necessities for bringing new merchandise to the market with out having to resort to “cruel” testing.

The White Coat Waste Project, a spending watchdog that focuses on animal testing, obtained paperwork detailing the experiment and the lawmakers’ objections.

Justin Goodman, the group’s senior vp, stated the VA had ended all cat and canine testing final yr, so it was disturbing to see the experiment was accredited.

Rep. Brian Mast, Florida Republican, referred to as the renewed testing “a huge step backwards.”

“It’s unnecessary, unacceptable and would undo so much of the progress we’ve made to stop VA cat experiments,” he stated.

Mr. Mast, a combat-wounded Army veteran, and Rep. Dina Titus, Nevada Democrat, wrote a letter to the VA in April elevating questions concerning the cats.

The experiment, going down on the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, is geared toward testing an improved prosthetic hand. According to Mr. McDonough’s 2022 justification for the experiment, wires and strain sensors are implanted underneath the pores and skin and are supposed to revive a way of contact.

The expertise is also used to assist stroke survivors and those that have had a leg amputated, the VA stated.

The analysis was accredited for seven cats to have the implants for six months.

The VA stated cats have to be used as a result of they're the fitting measurement. Sensors are too giant for rodents and too small for pigs or sheep. Rabbits are the fitting measurement however don’t have the fitting habits patterns.

“Only adult felines are properly sized to accommodate the Prosthetic Hand’s implanted connector and their natural behavior simulates movement and stressors on the connectors similarly to a physically active person,” the VA stated.

The division additionally stated it was adhering to FDA guidelines requiring reside animal testing earlier than research on people.

The of us at White Coat Waste, although, say that each one modified late final yr when Congress handed a provision written by Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, to finish the animal testing requirement.

Without that prod, the lawmakers stated, Mr. McDonough must rejustify his reasoning.

“We are concerned that the new cat experiments you approved are not legally required, not scientifically necessary and may be at odds with federal law governing the VA’s animal research,” they stated.

The Washington Times has reached out to the VA for this story.

The analysts at WCW have discovered proof that cats concerned in different medical system experiments in recent times at Stokes, the VA clinic concerned, needed to be euthanized after they have been injured throughout surgical problems, the lawmakers stated.

They demanded to know the standing of the cat experiment, the deliberate prices concerned and the way Mr. McDonough justified this system now that the legislation modified late final yr.

WCW says it has discovered that the VA has not but bought the cats to hold out the analysis, however the grant that the experiment can be a part of was simply renewed. It has raked in $1.4 million up to now, together with $426,785 in taxpayer cash in 2022.

“Following our investigations, campaigns, and lobbying, last year the VA completely ended its painful testing on dogs and cats, but we’ve now exposed the Biden administration’s preposterous plan to put seven more cats under the knife, once again, in a wasteful spending spree opposed by Republicans and Democrats in Congress,” Mr. Goodman stated.

He stated “suitable alternatives that don’t torture pets are readily available.”

WCW has beforehand uncovered experiments that drilled into cats’ skulls and crippled them then made them run on treadmills to attempt to see how their our bodies reacted.

The group stated that after public strain, the VA carried out no cat experiments in 2022 at its labs in Los Angeles, Louisville and Cleveland. Those had been the one lively cat experiment areas beforehand.

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