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03/28/2024 10:10 AM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20230&cosponId=39819
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: February 14, 2023 11:12 AM
From: Senator Doug Mastriano
To: All Senate members
Subject: Combating Cruel Testing on Dogs and Cats
 

In the near future, I plan to introduce a comprehensive bill that will defund painful dog and cat testing in Pennsylvania and shine a light on the scope of cruel and wasteful experimentation across our Commonwealth. Recent data shows that Pennsylvania laboratories, including state institutions of higher learning, house thousands of dogs and cats for this inhumane purpose.      
 
My legislation will do the following:

Defund Cruel Testing
  • Bar institutions from using state funds to support painful experiments on dogs and cats classified by the USDA as Col. D (Painful) and/or Col. E (Max Pain without any relief). This is similar to legislation enacted in the state of Virginia and passed in the U.S. House.
  • Require institutions that use state funding for dog and cat tests to remain compliant with federal law in order to qualify for any state funding.  A laboratory found to be non-compliant with federal law will lose eligibility to receive state funding for 1 year after the violation.
  • Codify that no public funding shall be used to support surgically devocalizing dogs or cats in laboratories.
Increase Transparency

  • Require institutions receiving state funds for dog and cat tests to disclose the amount of the state funding received, the amount of federal and private funding received, and clearly state in all public communications that “funding for these experiments was provided with Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars.”
  • Require the PA Treasury to release an annual report on animal research directly or indirectly funded with state dollars, identifying:
    • the total spent on dog and cat experiments,
    • a list of active and recently completed projects and their cost,
    • the number and species of dogs and cats used in those experiments, and
    • the source breeder or reseller of dogs or cats purchased with taxpayer funding for experimentation in the Commonwealth.
Make Dogs and Cats in Labs Available for Adoption

  • Codify a requirement that institutions receiving state funding make healthy dogs and cats used in experimentation available for adoption when they’re no longer needed for testing. Fifteen other states have enacted similar laws.

Pennsylvania can lead the nation in ending barbaric taxpayer-funded experimentation on our beloved dogs and cats.

Please join me as a co-sponsor.
 



Introduced as SB658