Answering Questions About #BeagleGate
Q: Did Dr. Anthony Fauci fund experiments on beagles?
A: Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which has provided grants for medical studies using the dogs as test subjects. But the NIAID denied funding one particular project in which sedated beagles had their heads placed in mesh cages so sand flies could bite them.
FULL QUESTION
What’s the real story on Fauci’s involvement in using beagle puppies for medical experiments?
FULL ANSWER
In the last week, we’ve received dozens of emails from readers asking about Dr. Anthony Fauci’s alleged cruelty to animals, specifically beagles.
The messages were prompted by a series of online reports by the White Coat Waste Project, the details of which have recently been shared on social media, as well as written about and discussed on television by news outlets.
The government watchdog group, which was founded in 2013 by former Republican strategist Anthony Bellotti, opposes federal funding of research relying on animal testing.
The National Institutes of Health “animals used in federally-funded research are protected by laws, regulations, and policies to ensure the smallest possible number of subjects and the greatest commitment to their welfare.” It adds that research involving animals is evaluated by scientists in a peer-review system and a committee at each institution before the research begins, and then is monitored by that committee and the NIH’s for compliance with federal laws and policies.
