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The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) penned a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan Thursday, thanking the Trump administration for its ban on Navy-funded dog and cat experiments announced this week and requesting a broader ban on all animal testing in all military branches.
Phelan on Tuesday terminated all Department of the Navy testing on cats and dogs, saving taxpayer dollars and ending these inhumane studies.
“This is long overdue,” Phelan said in a video posted to X. “In addition to this termination, I’m directing the surgeon general of the Navy to conduct a comprehensive review of all medical research programs to ensure they align with ethical guidelines, scientific necessity, and our core values of integrity and readiness.”
PETA on Thursday further urged the Department of Defense to conduct a similar comprehensive, agency-wide audit aimed at rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in cruel and outdated animal experimentation.
PETA also requested in the letter that Defense Department officials prohibit funding of tests on animals at foreign institutions.
In one experiment in Canada, which is receiving $429,347 in DOD funding, a University of Alberta experimenter is using dogs as “models” of a muscle wasting disease.
In another ongoing DOD-funded foreign experiment in Australia, which is receiving $599,984, a James Cook University researcher is burning 30% of rats’ body surface with scalding water and into their livers, inflicting an “[u]ncontrolled hemorrhage.”
The Department of Defense, Secretary of the Navy’s office and Navy Office of Information did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.