↓ Skip to main content
  1. News/

U.S. Reps. Pocan, Langworthy Introduce Bipartisan COMPACT Act to End Taxpayer-Funded Biomedical Testing on Dogs and Cats

·548 words·3 mins
Table of Contents

COMPACT Act to End Taxpayer-Funded
Biomedical Testing on Dogs and Cats
#

Congressmen Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Nick Langworthy (NY-23) announced the introduction of the Companion Animal Protection Against Cruel Testing (COMPACT) Act, described as the most comprehensive legislation to date to modernize federally funded biomedical research and end inhumane testing on dogs and cats. The legislation prohibits the use of federal public-health research funds for biomedical research involving live dogs and cats while protecting animals currently in research facilities and preserving flexibility for genuine national emergencies. It was developed with input from the medical and bioscience community and was announced at a press conference alongside leading animal welfare organizations and rescue beagles released from Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin.

Key Highlights
#

  • Prohibits the use of federal funds administered by the Department of Health and Human Services and relevant subagencies for research involving live dogs and cats, including grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, fellowships, and training awards.
  • Protects and rehomes animals currently being used for biomedical testing.
  • Establishes compliance and oversight mechanisms and provides law enforcement with tools to protect dogs and cats from taxpayer-funded experimentation.
  • Increases transparency at HHS through an annual agency report and a Government Accountability Office review three years after enactment.
  • Provides clear standards and transition provisions for research institutions moving toward non-animal research methods.
  • Endorsed by Animal Wellness Action, White Coat Waste Project, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Humane World for Animals, Humane World Action Fund, the Beagle Freedom Project, PETA, and Save the Dogs.

Statements
#

What happened at Ridglan Farms was a wake-up call for our community and for the country. We saw thousands of beagles confined in inhumane conditions and bred for research, and we saw what was possible when people came together to demand change.

  • Congressman Mark Pocan (WI-02)

The horrific abuse and barbaric treatment of beagles uncovered inside research facilities like Ridglan Farms and Marshall Biosciences has outraged Americans from every corner of the country and political spectrum. Dogs and cats are companion animals and part of the family for millions of Americans; they should never have to endure inhumane suffering, particularly at expense to taxpayers and when science has evolved to develop more effective research methods.

  • Congressman Nick Langworthy (NY-23)

We are past due to close out the long, painful era of government-funded invasive testing on beagles and on cats. In a world of predictive AI, organoids, and so many other biomedical innovations, American taxpayers need not subsidize ineffective experiments on animals widely recognized as beloved members of our families.

  • Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy

Americans have been paying $40 million a year to fund cruel experiments on dogs and most have no idea. The COMPACT Act finally puts taxpayers back in control of their own money, and ends a program the science stopped justifying long ago.

  • Wayne Hsiung of Save the Dogs

About the Organizations
#

Animal Wellness Action is a nonprofit organization advocating for the protection of animals through legislation and policy change in the United States.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is an organization of physicians and scientists promoting preventive medicine, ethical research, and alternatives to animal testing.

Learn More
#

Press Release: U.S. Reps. Pocan, Langworthy Introduce Bipartisan COMPACT Act
Congressman Mark Pocan Official Website