Republicans and Democrats have finally found something to be furious with Dr. Anthony Fauci about together.

A new report alleges that the National Institutes of Health, which is headed by Fauci, was involved in an indescribably cruel experiment with beagles and lawmakers from both parties are demanding answers, The Daily Mail reported.

Dr Anthony Fauci has been condemned for using taxpayers’ money to fund animal experiments, including one which saw beagles trapped in cages so flies could eat them, and another where they were ‘debarked’ before being pumped with drugs and killed.   

One of the most disturbing incidents funded by Fauci’s National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases involved $375,000 given to a Tunisian research lab.

There, puppies had their heads held in cages, before being left for sand flies to eat them alive for research purposes.

Distressing snaps showed the pups with their heads kept inside the muslin-type cages filled with the hungry insects. 

Another procedure – which the NIH funded to the tune of $1.8m – saw 44 beagle puppies undergo a ‘cordectomy,’ which saw their vocal cords cut to stop them barking. 

That experiment, which took place in Menlo Park, California, saw the dogs then pumped full of drugs, before being killed and dissected.   

A group of 24 lawmakers led by South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace are demanding answers for experiments they called “cruel” and a “reprehensible misuse of taxpayer funds.”

“According to documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by taxpayer watchdog group White Coat Waste Project, and subsequent media coverage, from October 2018 until February 2019, NIAID spent $1.86million in taxpayer funds on drug tests involving 44 beagle puppies,” the letter said.

“While documents state that the ostensible purpose of this study was to ‘provide data of suitable quality and integrity to support application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory agencies,’ the FDA itself has recently stated that it ‘does not mandate that human drugs be studied in dogs,’” it said.

The White Coat Waste Project said two weeks ago that near $1.68million was spent to conduct experiments on 44 beagles at Sri International in Menlo Park. The puppies were given cordectomies and were force-fed drugs before they were killed and dissected.

Another $375,800 was given to a lab in Tunisia when Beagles were horribly drugged, had their heads locked in mesh cages and then were eaten alive by sand flies.

In September 2020 another $424,000 was given to the University of Georgia where healthy beagles were drugged before being intentionally infected by parasite-carrying flies.

The records show that the dogs were “vocalizing in pain” before they were ultimately killed.

The group of lawmakers, which includes Democrat Rep. Ted Lieu and others, demanded answers to the following questions.

  • How many drug tests involving dogs have been funded by NIAID since January 2018? How much taxpayer money has been spent on this testing?
  • Since the Food and Drug Administration has clearly stated that it does not require dog testing for new drugs, why has NIAID continued to commission testing on dogs?
  • What has NIAID done to explore the use of non-canine and non-animal alternatives to meet FDA data requirements?
  • Has NIAID ever made any dogs available for adoption after the conclusion of an experiment or testing? If so, how many? if so, why not?
  • Why has NIAID contracted for cordectomies when they appear to be scientifically and medically unnecessary? What is the average cost for each cordectomy performed?

A fact check on the story from Snopes calls the claims a “mixture.”

“It is true that obligated funds were issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the amount of $424,555 for research conducted at the University of Georgia to test the efficacy of a potential vaccine for lymphatic filariasis on beagle subjects. However, it is unclear whether Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at NIH, personally approved the project. Research conducted on behalf of NIAID is funded in large part through annual funds allocated by Congress and the president. A University of Georgia spokesperson indicated that testing on dogs was, in fact, necessary, and that all humane standards set by applicable agencies were adhered to,” it said.