NIH Closes Final Beagle Lab, Ending Decades of Animal Testing

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has officially closed its final in-house beagle research lab, ending decades of painful experiments on dogs. The now-terminated project at the NIH Clinical Center focused on stress- and sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy, with procedures classified under the USDA’s most severe pain categories. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya stated that the closure is part of a broader initiative to replace animal testing with advanced technologies like AI, which are expected to better translate to human health outcomes. Advocacy groups, including White Coat Waste Project and PETA, praised the move, highlighting the killing of over 2,000 beagles since 1986 and national controversies over taxpayer-funded research, including overseas experiments involving infectious sand flies. The decision follows increasing scrutiny from lawmakers, the public, and animal rights organizations over the ethical and scientific validity of such research. Bhattacharya emphasized a shift in federal policy toward using technological alternatives to animal testing in biomedical research.