FOIA TO FREEDOM: HOW WCW SAVED BOB FROM THE VA’S “HOUSE OF HORRORS” LAB IN LA

Allow us to introduce you to Bob, Taxpayer.

Bob is a happy hound with a loving family. But Bob’s life wasn’t always so happy. Bob’s path here was long and difficult, but White Coat Waste Project (WCW) is proud that we helped take Bob from FOIA to freedom.

Bob was born in February of 2008. Before his first birthday, he was shipped to Los Angeles…but he wasn’t going there for fun in the sun.

Instead, he was shipped to a secretive Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) laboratory, where we learned his name was officially CZNIAF. (Doesn’t really roll off the tongue).

WCW used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to expose the Los Angeles Department of Veterans Affairs’ (LA VA) cruel and wasteful dog tests for the world to see. Bob was being subjected to experiments to test medical devices.

After learning about Bob and the other dogs imprisoned at the LA VA, we were fortunate to meet a whistleblower who lived at an adjoining VA facility, where he was able to see dogs being led out into a concrete lot behind the laboratory.

This brave individual, an Iraq veteran, didn’t know what the VA was doing with Bob and these dogs — until he read about our campaign.

The whistleblower was shocked to learn what was going on behind closed doors at the VA, calling their dog lab a “house of horrors.”

The whistleblower was able to snap a few photos of the dogs he saw, including Bob:

Public outcry was swift and fierce. After WCW whipped up a maelstrom of bad press, mobilized an army of angry taxpayers, and rallied Republicans and Democrats in Congress, the VA announced it was shutting down some of its dog experiments and canceling future experiments it had planned.

The experiments Bob was used in were ended, too, and he was spared from death.

Following WCW’s campaign, the VA has also cut its dog testing by nearly 80 percent and ended its primate experiments in Minnesota and in Connecticut. We also ended the VA’s kitten experiments at the same lab in Los Angeles, as well as its “cat-stipation” experiments in Cleveland, too.

And Taxpayer, Bob isn’t the only one rescued via the “FOIA to freedom” pathway forged by WCW’s campaigns…

🐵 In 2018, WCW shut down the FDA’s $5.5 million nicotine addiction lab…then we retired and released these 26 squirrel monkeys to a warm Florida sanctuary.

😻 In 2019, WCW closed the USDA’s $22 million “Kitten Slaughterhouse” lab…then we adopted out Delilah, Petite, and the 14 cat survivors. Check out their Capitol Hill field trip to meet the legislators who helped save them!

🐰 And, in 2020, WCW exposed and ended the EPA’s taxpayer-funded animal testing program…then we got Administrator Wheeler to pardon the bunny survivors.

Your tax dollars purchased these animals. So after WCW finds, exposes, and defunds the abuse, government white coats should #GiveThemBack. Survivors deserve a second chance to live out their lives in peace and happiness…like Bob.

Violet’s Law would ensure that USDA and all government labs develop an adoption policy for its animals, just as the VA, the NIH, and the FDA have already put in place.

Take action, Taxpayer! Urge your Members of Congress to cosponsor the AFTER Act — aka Violet’s Law — to provide a second chance to animals abused in wasteful government experiments!