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NIH closes experimentation labs accused of brutally killing thousands of beagles for 40+ years

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National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Jay Bhattacharya recently announced on Fox News the agency closed its last in-house beagle laboratory on the NIH campus.

The announcement comes just days after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk posted on X that he would investigate funding beagle experiments.

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A report from the White Coat Waste (WCW) project detailed the lab’s history of allegedly pumping pneumonia-causing bacteria into more than 2,000 beagles’ lungs, bleeding them out, and forcing them into septic shock for deadly experiments.

Following the announcement, WCW president and founder Anthony Bellotti praised President Donald Trump for ending the highly scrutinized project.

REP. NANCY MACE SAYS FAUCI ‘SENT PUPPIES TO SLAUGHTER’ WITH ‘BARBARIC AND GRUESOME’ NIH-FUNDED EXPERIMENTS

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FILE- The Humane Society of the United States previously helped rehome rescued beagles at the request of the DOJ.  (Meredith Lee/ USHS)

«Taxpayers and pet owners shouldn’t be forced to pay for the NIH’s beagle abuse,» Bellotti wrote in a statement. «We applaud the President for cutting this wasteful NIH spending and will keep fighting until we defund all dog labs at home and abroad. The solution is simple: Stop the money. Stop the madness!»

Beagles in cages

FILE – The Humane Society of the United States previously worked with the Department of Justice and animal welfare partners, including Homeward Trails, to find new homes for rescued beagles. (Sue Bell/Homeward Trails)

HHS AXES MORE THAN $300M IN GENDER, DEI-RELATED HEALTH GRANTS TO CALIFORNIA ALONE

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Shortly after the Trump administration took office, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in April it would phase out an animal testing requirement for antibody therapies and other drugs in favor of testing on materials that mimic human organs.

Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin also announced his agency would reinstate a 2019 policy from the first Trump administration to phase out animal testing.

Beagle in shelter

FILE – Homeward Trails, a Virginia-based animal shelter, previously rescued beagles from Envigo breeding. (Sue Bell/Homeward Trails)

PETA PLEADS WITH NIH TO STOP FUNDING FOR ANIMAL STUDY, CALLS SLEEP EXPERIMENT ‘CRUEL AND HORRIFIC’

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During Trump’s first term in 2019, the administration closed the government’s largest cat lab.

Bhattacharya said People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) reached out to him following the closure of the beagle testing facility, sending him flowers.

PETA, ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS PRAISE TRUMP ADMIN FOR PHASING OUR ‘CRUEL TESTS ON DOGS’ AND OTHER ANIMALS

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«Normally, I think NIH directors tend to get physical threats, but they sent me flowers,» Bhattacharya said on air. 

PETA in 2021 highlighted Anthony Fauci’s alleged approval of funding for tests in Tunisia where beagle puppies were drugged, and their heads were locked in cages filled with hungry, infected sandflies.

Beagle protest in the UK

A pair of beagles stand next to an anti-animal experiments banner. (Photo by Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

TRUMP ADMIN CUTS ADDITIONAL $1M IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ‘TRANSGENDER ANIMAL’ EXPERIMENTS

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After the reports came out, 23 bipartisan lawmakers, including Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., sent a letter to Fauci addressing the heartbreaking experiments.

«Yesterday, I sent a letter to Dr. Fauci regarding cruel, taxpayer-funded experiments on puppies; debarking before drugging and killing them,» Mace wrote in an October 2021 post on X. «This is disgusting. What say you @NIH.»

Kathy Guillermo, PETA senior vice president of laboratory investigations, told Fox News Digital on Sunday night the organization is «delighted» by the news of the NIH facility closure.

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«We are letting the new NIH Director know how important this step is for modernizing science, and we’re especially happy because these last experiments involved sepsis, which we have been working to end for several years. Sepsis experiments on animals are failures.»

Guillermo noted PETA has a lawsuit pending, filed under the Biden administration, to try to prevent the government from funding any more sepsis experiments. 

Jay Bhattacharya

NIH director Jay Bhattacharya announced the closure of the facility, which experimented on beagles. (Getty Images)

The Indiana-based company that bred the beagles for research, Envigo, pleaded guilty in 2024 to neglecting thousands of dogs at its Cumberland, Virginia, breeding facility, and will be required to pay more than $35 million in fines, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

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«We are just thrilled to see that the [Envigo] beagles who were used [at the NIH location], will no longer be used,» Guillermo said. «We first exposed [Envigo] in an undercover investigation that eventually led to the closure of the facility and the release of 4,000 beagles to good homes.»

FDA PHASING OUT SOME ANIMAL TESTING IN ‘WIN-WIN’ FOR ETHICS AND PUBLIC HEALTH: COMMISSIONER

PETA is awaiting information about the condition of the dogs that will be released, and if they are in good enough shape to be placed in a home, Guillermo said they stand ready to help.

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«Dr. Bhattacharya has made a wonderful start, and there is a lot more work to be done, because animals are being experimented on, including beagles and other dogs, across the country,» she said. «So we’re looking forward to what comes next.»

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The White House and the NIH did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

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Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Health,Pet Health,Pets

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Manifestantes se movilizan hacia la Casa Blanca con críticas a Trump por los ataques a Irán

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Cientos de manifestantes de distintas organizaciones sociales se movilizan este sábado hacia la Casa Blanca con críticas al presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, por los ataques a Irán.

Mientras crece el conflicto en Medio Oriente y también el temor en Estados Unidos a una guerra prolongada, en las inmediaciones de la casa del gobierno estadounidense se concentran cientos de personas que, con banderas y carteles, protestan contra la decisión de Trump de atacar Irán.

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El mandatario estadounidense es blanco de críticas en Washington por haber ordenado la Operación Furia Épica (Operation Epic Fury) que, según un comunicado del Comando Central de Estados Unidos, es «la mayor concentración regional de poderío militar estadounidense en una generación».

Entre los manifestantes que gritan «no a la guerra en Irán» y sostienen carteles reclamándole a Trump que no arroje bombas a ese país también hay una buena cantidad de latinos que, en español, cantan «el pueblo unido jamás será vencido».

Mientras cada vez más manifestantes se suman a las protestas en la capital estadounidense, Trump sigue desde su residencia en Mar-a-Lago el minuto a minuto de la escalada de tensión tras el ataque a Irán.

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La portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Karoline Leavitt, informó que Trump ha estado toda la noche siguiendo la operación, bautizada por Estados Unidos como «Furia Épica», y que tuvo una llamada telefónica con el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu.

«El presidente y su equipo de seguridad nacional continuarán monitoreando de cerca la situación durante todo el día», declaró Leavitt.

El Gobierno distribuyó una primera fotografía que muestra una sala de crisis improvisada en Mar-a-Lago con cortinas negras y un mapa de Irán. Trump con saco y camisa pero sin corbata y una gorra con las siglas de USA (EE.UU., en inglés), estuvo acompañado por el secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio; el director de la CIA, John Ratcliffe, y la jefa de gabinete de la Casa Blanca, Susie Wiles, además de otros asesores.

Desde la Casa Blanca, en Washington, siguieron el operativo el vicepresidente, JD Vance, junto a la directora de Inteligencia Nacional, Tulsi Gabbard, y el secretario del Tesoro, Scott Bessent, entre otros.

Mar-a-Lago es la residencia donde Trump suele pasar los fines de semana y desde allí ofreció de madrugada el mensaje en video en el que anunció el lanzamiento del ataque contra Irán, cuyo objetivo último es la caída del régimen. Desde esa misma mansión, monitoreó el pasado 3 de enero el ataque estadounidense contra Venezuela que terminó con la captura de Nicolás Maduro.

Estados Unidos e Israel lanzaron este sábado un ataque contra objetivos en Teherán y otras ciudades en Irán, que respondió con el lanzamiento de misiles hacia territorio israelí y bases militares estadounidenses en toda la región.

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Según el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, hay «señales» que apuntan a que el líder supremo iraní, Alí Jamenei, «dejó de existir» tras el ataque israelí a su residencia de este sábado.

El secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio, notificó del ataque con antelación a siete de los ocho congresistas del llamado Grupo de los Ocho, del que forman parte los líderes republicanos y demócratas de la Cámara de Representantes y del Senado.

Varios legisladores demócratas han denunciado no haber sido avisados del ataque y acusan al Gobierno de iniciar una guerra encubierta sin pasar por el Congreso, que tiene la potestad de autorizar un conflicto bélico en el exterior.

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Además de las críticas de legisladpres opositores y de las manifestaciones en las inmediaciones de la Casa Blanca, en las últimas horas se multiplicaron los cuestionamientos a Trump.

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La exvicepresidenta Kamala Harris dijo que Trump «está arrastrando a Estados Unidos a una guerra que el pueblo estadounidense no desea». Y cerró: «Seamos claros: me opongo a una guerra de cambio de régimen en Irán, y nuestras tropas están siendo puestas en peligro por la guerra predilecta de Trump».

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Tomahawks spearheaded US strike on Iran — why presidents reach for this missile first

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The first missile in the U.S. arsenal used against Iranian targets in Saturday’s pre-dawn strike was the Tomahawk, a long-range cruise missile launched from Navy ships and submarines.

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About half the length of a standard telephone pole, the Tomahawk flies at the speed of a commercial airliner and can carry a 1,000-pound warhead about the distance from Washington, D.C., to Miami.

Fired from destroyers or submarines positioned hundreds of miles away, the missiles allow a president to respond rapidly to a crisis without sending pilots into contested airspace or deploying ground forces. 

The Tomahawk has become a go-to option for limited military action, because it offers precision and flexibility while keeping the U.S. footprint small. The missiles can hit fixed targets with high accuracy, reducing the risk of broader escalation. 

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Presidents of both parties have used Tomahawks in the opening hours of military operations, from strikes in Iraq in the 1990s to more recent operations in Syria and elsewhere. 

Defense officials and military analysts say the weapon’s long range, reliability and relatively low risk to American personnel make it an attractive first-strike option when the White House wants to send a message quickly but stop short of a wider war.

That combination of speed, distance and precision has kept the Tomahawk at the center of U.S. military planning for decades.

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The Tomahawk missile is manufactured by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, also known as RTX. (U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

Manufactured by defense titan Raytheon — now RTX — the Tomahawk has been a mainstay of the Navy’s arsenal since the 1980s. It was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War and has since become a go-to option for presidents seeking to strike from long range without putting U.S. service members in harm’s way.

«Year in and year out, administration in and administration out, it’s the long-range land attack cruise missile that presidents reach for first in a crisis,» Thomas Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.

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But heavy use has taken a toll. «We’ve been using them far more frequently than we’ve been producing them,» Karako said.

Prior to Saturday’s operation, the missile was used in June 2025 during a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Smoke rises after Iranian missile attacks in Bahrain

Smoke rises after reported Iranian missile attacks, following strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026. (Reuters)

Overall, the Tomahawk has been deployed more than 2,350 times.

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At roughly $1.4 million apiece, the Tomahawk missile has an intermediate range of 800 to 1,553 miles and can be launched from more than 140 U.S. Navy ships and submarines. 

The Tomahawk strike was just one piece of a broader U.S. military posture in the region.

Ahead of the strikes, the U.S. military amassed what Trump previously called an «armada» in Iran’s backyard. Mapped out across the Persian Gulf and beyond, the deployment tells its own story, one of calculated pressure backed by credible capability.

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THE ONLY MAP YOU NEED TO SEE TO UNDERSTAND HOW SERIOUS TRUMP IS ABOUT IRAN

The deployment coincided with indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. Trump has warned that the regime must fully dismantle its nuclear infrastructure or face consequences.

An F-35B jet is seen taking off from the flight deck of the USS America.

An F-35B takes off from the USS America flight deck. (Cpl. Isaac Cantrell/U.S. Marine Corps)

At the center of the U.S. presence are two aircraft carrier strike groups — the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford — each supported by guided-missile destroyers and cruisers and capable of sustained air and missile operations.

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More than a dozen additional U.S. warships are also operating in the region in support roles, according to defense officials.

It was not immediately clear how or when Tehran might respond, though Iranian leaders have previously warned of retaliation in the event of direct U.S. military involvement.

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Iranian ‘top target’ hit in $10M precision strike; US kamikaze drones used to ‘overwhelm’

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Israel struck its key target in Tehran Saturday in what a defense expert has described as a multimillion-dollar precision-guided attack alongside a broader offensive involving U.S. waves of lower-cost kamikaze drones.

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Cameron Chell, CEO of drone manufacturer Draganfly, told Fox News Digital the campaign would have likely paired advanced and costly assets against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound, while U.S. forces used cheaper drones to «overwhelm» on land, air and sea.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) also confirmed that the drones were deployed for the first time in history.

«CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike — for the first time in history — is using one-way attack drones in combat during Operation Epic Fury,» it said in an X post before adding that the «low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution.»

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«Saturday saw an overwhelming daytime attack with incredible intelligence to target the leadership and a strike on the compound possibly costing tens of millions,» Chell said.

«That would likely have included expensive, precision-strike drones or manned aircraft in highly coordinated attacks to ensure success, not necessarily the lower-cost, one-way version of the suicide drones,» he explained.

«The U.S. has this lower-cost alternative to hit everything at once, but then the very expensive, high-precision assets would likely have gone directly after leadership on Saturday,» Chell added.

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A map of Western strikes against Iran (Fox News)

A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the compound strike was a «wildly bold daytime attack.»

«It caught the senior leadership off guard on a Saturday morning during Ramadan and on Shabbat in the daytime,» the official added. 

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«We hit the senior leaders right out of the gate,» the source told Fox national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin.

Iran’s military, government and intelligence sites were targeted, an official briefed on the operation also told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

A handful of top Iranian leaders were killed, including the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

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AYATOLLAH’S ARSENAL VS. AMERICAN FIREPOWER: IRAN’S TOP 4 THREATS AND HOW WE FIGHT BACK

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is seen on Iranian state television.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses the public on the 47th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, according to Iranian state television in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 9, 2026. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump also announced Saturday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in the strike.

«If drones were involved in that top target attack, it would have been the very sophisticated MQ-type or Global Hawk-type drones,» Chell said.

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Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said other attacks across the country were being done «to remove threats.»

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, those targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command and control centers, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.

Chell described how those secondary targets would have been hit by the U.S. with the cheaper one-way «kamikaze» drones before adding that the strikes «seemed to be an excellent example of mass overwhelm at a new level.»

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IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT US BASES ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AFTER AMERICAN STRIKES ON NUCLEAR, IRGC SITES

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine monitors U.S. military operations in Iran

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine monitors U.S. military operations in Iran after an Israeli strike in Tehran alongside several Cabinet members Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (@WhiteHouse/X)

Chell suggested Iran’s defenses were likely degraded well before the strike began because of the coordination.

«I think likely the defense systems, communication systems, were overwhelmingly compromised,» he added. «And so I think they just overwhelmed them,» he said.

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«I’m sure there would have been days, if not even weeks, of work and preparation to take out those defense communication systems.

«They would have compromised those defense communications in some way through electronic warfare or cyberattack. 

«The battlefield now is so multidimensional,» Chell emphasized.

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«It’s about cyber warfare, misinformation and electronic warfare as well.

«This was seemingly so swift because it was incredibly well-planned and coordinated by the U.S. and Israel on a massive level that’s not been seen before.»

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