Rep. Nancy Mace (R-NC) is introducing federal legislation to ban companies from breeding and selling dogs for use in scientific experimentation, targeting operations like Oak Hill Genetics that supply research labs across the country.
The Prohibiting Unethical Procedures on Pets in Science (PUPPS) Act would make it unlawful for any person, in or affecting commerce, to breed a dog for research purposes, to commercially distribute a dog for research purposes, or to knowingly acquire or use a dog bred for that purpose.
Violators would lose their federal licensing. The bill states the Secretary “may not issue or renew a license… or accept a registration… that authorizes an activity prohibited under subsection (a), and shall suspend or revoke the license or registration of any person that violates subsection (a).”
Penalties run up to $10,000 per dog for a first violation and up to $40,000 per dog for repeat violations, though a continuing violation involving the same dog counts as a single offense. Total penalties from any one inspection, investigation, or complaint are capped at $500,000.
The legislation also bars anyone holding a research dog from euthanizing it. Instead, that dog must be offered for adoption to an individual or an animal rescue organization.
“Dogs aren’t lab equipment. They’re family,” Mace said in a statement. “Breeding puppies into a life of pain just to stock government research labs isn’t science. It’s barbaric.”
“We’ve already taken on Fauci’s taxpayer-funded dog experiments and fought to get animals out of federal labs and into loving homes. Now we’re shutting down the pipeline for good,” she said. “Thanks to White Coat Waste for leading the charge alongside us in this fight. This bill ends the breeding of dogs for research, cuts off the supply to these labs, and gives dogs already trapped behind those walls a second chance through adoption instead of euthanasia. Man’s best friend belongs in a loving home, not a lab cage.”
What triggered the bill
The push comes after the White Coat Waste Project (WCW) found that Oak Hill Genetics sent more than 1,500 dogs to 44 different labs nationwide over an 18-month span, from January 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Some of those labs were still drawing funding from the National Institutes of Health. Experiments on the dogs reportedly included severing nerves and inducing heart failure.
“White Coat Waste first uncovered Dr. Fauci’s BeagleGate scandal and led conservatives to the fight against taxpayer-funded animal testing. That’s why White Coat Waste is proud to support Rep. Mace’s PUPPS Act to stop the despicable dog breeding operations we’ve exposed that supply victims to taxpayer-funded labs and to ensure more survivors go from lab dogs to lap dogs,” said Anthony Bellotti, founder of White Coat Waste.
“The PUPPS Act also hits close to home for me: I’ve adopted three pets bred in Fauci-funded labs and rescued by White Coat Waste. The solution is simple: Stop the money. Stop the madness!” — Anthony Bellotti
Mace has pursued this issue before. Last year, she reintroduced Violet’s Law, which requires federal labs to make animals available for retirement and adoption once testing on them ends.
