NIH spent millions on experiments in which puppies were injected with cocaine

The White Coat Waste Project, a watchdog group that aims to stop taxpayer funding of some animal experiments, released an NIH report on two experiments it funded in which 6-month-old beagles were injected with cocaine to research the effect of a potential treatment for cocaine addiction

They were strapped into a drug-injecting jacket that would dose the cocaine into the puppies, along with an “experimental compound” to see how the two drugs would interact. Researchers also surgically implanted monitoring devices into the dogs to measure their responses. Following the experiment, they were either euthanized or “recycled” for more experiments, according to the 94-page report.

“The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential adverse cardiovascular effects that may result when [redacted] (test article) and cocaine (interaction article) are administered together to male Beagle dogs,” the document reads.

One of the experiments ran from September 2020 to September 2021 and another from March 2020 to March 2021. They were conducted by NIH contractor SRI International, and the findings are due in May.

“Taxpayers should not be forced to foot the multi-million-dollar bill for wasteful and cruel ‘Coke Hound’ experiments in which beagle puppies are injected with cocaine just to fulfill burdensome and outdated FDA red tape,” the WCWP said,

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, which is part of the NIH, told the Washington Examiner that the purpose of the experiments was to research possible medical solutions to cocaine addiction and that the NIH is “committed to ensuring the welfare of animals used in research and, where possible, reducing their use.”

“Through this particular NIDA contract, researchers performed toxicology studies in a preclinical model to test the safety of a novel drug for the treatment of cocaine use disorder before moving it into a human study,” the NIDA said. “This is done for the sole purpose of ensuring that a new medication will be safe in people who are seeking treatment for cocaine use disorder, and who may resume cocaine use while in treatment.”

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases came under fire in October when lawmakers criticized what they decried as cruel and unnecessary experiments on beagle puppies in which their vocal cords were severed to prevent them from barking or crying while injected with parasites.