Farm Bill amendments cut USDA animal testing funding and require lab animal retirement

By AI, Created 11:14 AM UTC, May 20, 2026, /AGP/ – Bipartisan Farm Bill amendments backed by White Coat Waste passed the U.S. House on April 30, 2026, cutting USDA support for certain animal tests in the U.S. and abroad. The measure also requires federal labs to create retirement and rehoming policies for animals used in experiments.

Why it matters: - The Farm Bill changes reduce federal support for animal testing that White Coat Waste says is wasteful, cruel, and dangerous. - The amendments also expand the chance for lab animals to be retired and rehomed instead of remaining in federal facilities. - The policy shift affects USDA spending and federal lab rules in the U.S. and overseas.

What happened: - The U.S. House passed a Farm Bill that included WCW-backed amendments on April 30, 2026. - The amendments were cosponsored by Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Dina Titus (D-NV), Nancy Mace (R-SC), and Scott Perry (R-PA). - The package cuts USDA funding for maximum-pain experiments on dogs and cats. - The package cuts USDA funding for animal testing conducted in China, Russia, and other adversarial countries. - The package requires all federal labs to create animal retirement policies.

The details: - The lab-retirement measure would make adoption an option across the federal government under Violet’s Law, as described by WCW. - White Coat Waste said the wins follow years of investigations, advocacy, and lobbying aimed at ending USDA-funded animal experiments domestically and overseas. - Justin Goodman, WCW’s senior vice president, said the changes will stop taxpayers from funding USDA animal experiments at home and abroad and will save animals locked in federal labs. - WCW said its investigations exposed USDA-funded COVID tests on cats, maximum-pain kitten cannibalism experiments, and drug toxicity studies on dogs. - WCW said it also uncovered and ended Biden USDA funding for bird flu gain-of-function experiments with Wuhan-linked researchers in China and tests on foxes at a Kremlin-controlled experimental fur farm.

Between the lines: - The House action shows bipartisan support for limiting federal animal testing spending, even across contentious research and foreign-policy issues. - WCW is framing the changes as both a budget fight and an animal-welfare campaign, which broadens the political appeal. - The inclusion of lab retirement rules suggests the campaign is moving beyond defunding experiments to changing what happens to animals after testing ends.

What’s next: - The amendments now need to clear the rest of the legislative process before the changes become fully durable policy. - WCW is likely to keep pushing for broader limits on USDA-funded animal testing and for wider adoption of retirement policies in federal labs. - The group says its next goal is to keep stopping taxpayer money from flowing to the experiments it targets.

The bottom line: - The Farm Bill added bipartisan limits on USDA animal testing and took a step toward making federal lab animal retirement a standard option.