Rep. Nancy Mace Introduces Bill to Allow Laboratory Animals to Be Retired, Adopted

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has reintroduced Violet’s Law, a bill named after a dog saved from a taxpayer-funded experimentation lab by White Coat Waste Project (WCW) and requires all federal labs to allow animals to be retired and adopted out when testing ends.

The legislation’s reintroduction comes after it was supported by a bipartisan group of dozens of cosponsors but did not move forward in 2023, WCW stated.

There are more than 40,000 regulated animals locked in federal labs each year, according to the medical watchdog and animal rights group:

Historically, government white coats usually kill survivors — even healthy and adoptable ones — rather than let taxpayers adopt them, or retire them to sanctuaries. It’s just more convenient. But, polls show that 71 percent of Democrats and 72 of Republicans want retirement, not death, for animals who survive experiments in government labs. Scientific research shows that animals released from labs make great pets, too!

WCW is the group that blew the lid off the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding gain-of-function research in a Wuhan, China, lab and exposed longtime NIH physician Dr. Anthony Fauci for “abus[ing] his authority, science and taxpayers” when he was the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The organization also uncovered Fauci’s horrific beagle-testing scandal, which served as a catalyst for the end of all beagle testing at NIH labs announced earlier this week. 

In a statement to Breitbart News, Mace called it “unacceptable for federal labs to kill healthy animals who could be adopted and given a second chance at life.”

“Violet’s Law is a commonsense solution to ensure these animals are rehomed when they’re no longer needed for tax payer funded research,” the congresswoman added. 

“Given the Trump Administration’s commitment to cutting wasteful spending on animal testing, Rep. Mace’s ‘Violet’s Law’ — named in memory of an ex-lab hound rescued by White Coat Waste — is more important than ever,” WCW president and founder Anthony Bellotti explained. “Violet’s Law helps ensure that government lab survivors are retired and released to loving homes, not senselessly killed, when White Coat Waste and Rep. Mace expose and close labs.”

“Under Trump 45, White Coat Waste secured the rescue of dozens of cats, dogs, and primates from federal labs we shut down and got federal agencies including the NIH, FDA, VA and DOD to enact the first-ever lab animal retirement policies,” Bellotti continued. “But the Biden EPA and other agencies have refused to retire animal testing survivors — even though taxpayers are forced to pay the bill. Taxpayers bought these animals and Violet’s Law will ensure Uncle Sam gives them back.”

May 2024 photos of Mace show the congresswoman with “Uno,” the first beagle saved from Fauci’s torturous puppy experiments on puppies, and representatives from WCW and the Kindness Ranch Animal Sanctuary:

John Ramer, the executive director of the animal sanctuary, also praised Mace’s work in a statement to Breitbart News.

“As the nation’s largest and most successful sanctuary for research animals — having successfully placed thousands of cats, dogs, and other animals into loving homes — we applaud Rep. Mace for introducing Violet’s Law to make lab animal retirement a standard policy in all government labs,” he said. “We are proof that it can be done and eagerly stand ready to assist in the process.”

Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.