Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not just committed to phasing out cruel and outdated animal testing, but it has now also approved a program for putting the retired laboratory animals up for adoption, following months of discussion with the non-profit White Coat Waste.
The adoption plan was unearthed in internal EPA documents by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and confirmed to White Coat Waste, the taxpayer watchdog that’s been relentless in exposing and dismantling government-funded animal torture.
Peer said in a press release, “There are approximately 20,000 animals in EPA labs, including rabbits, mice, and rats, which are primarily used to gauge the safety of environmental pollutants. The adoption program, which is debuting at EPA’s Research Triangle complex in North Carolina, is now offering zebrafish and rats for private adoption.”
Anthony Bellotti, President and Founder of White Coat Waste, celebrated the news in a statement:
“Reinstating the EPA’s animal testing phase-out and its lab animal retirement policy has been a top priority for White Coat Waste since day one of the new Trump Administration. We applaud President Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin for keeping their promise to taxpayers and pet owners.
White Coat Waste worked with the first Trump Administration to eliminate tests on dogs, rabbits, and all other mammals by 2035 and to retire animal testing survivors. When the Biden Administration secretly revoked the 2035 deadline and killed rabbits slated for retirement, we blew the whistle—not the legacy animal groups who stayed silent while the killing resumed behind closed doors.
White Coat Waste led the only bipartisan campaign that united Congressional Republicans and Democrats to pass legislation directing the EPA to restore its phase-out timeline and retirement plans. From the beginning of the Trump Administration to today, White Coat Waste has been leading the campaign to cut EPA’s wasteful spending and to retire EPA’s lab survivors. We’re proud of our hard-fought win—and we won’t stop until the last animal is out.”
The decision to end animal testing builds on a push initiated under President Donald Trump’s first term, but squashed by the Biden administration.
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