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Congress is considering legislation that would stop the U.S. government from funding foreign animal research labs, which it has done for years with little oversight while putting animal lives at risk. According to a 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided $2.2 billion to 200 foreign institutions for research involving animals from 2011 to 2021. The Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas Act of 2025 (CARGO Act) would end this practice! Passage of the CARGO Act would help spare animals from needless suffering at foreign labs, and is especially important considering findings in the GAO report, which indicate that despite being required to do so, the NIH has not provided proper oversight to ensure the welfare of animals at these facilities. Instead, it relies on foreign laboratories to self-report information about animal care and use. The GAO stated that “there are risks that animal welfare issues may be underreported or misreported,” but that the NIH does not conduct site visits to ensure that the foreign labs are following proper animal care standards. Over the past several years, the NIH has used your tax dollars to fund experiments in Colombia, where monkeys and mice infected with the parasite that causes malaria were denied veterinary care; in France, where mice were addicted to morphine and alcohol and then subjected to extensive behavioral testing; in Israel to expose mice and monkeys to whole-body radiation; in Peru, where pigs had catheters implanted into their carotid arteries so they could be infected with tapeworms; and in Sweden to surgically implant electrodes in rabbits’ legs and also cut their spinal cords. That’s just to name a few! But the CARGO Act would help prevent this animal suffering by prohibiting the NIH from funding research at labs outside the U.S., where the agency has failed to provide oversight to protect animal welfare. Please urge your Senators and Representative to support the CARGO Act today!
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