US Navy Halts All Dog and Cat Testing After White Coat Waste Project Discovers Navy Funded Lab

The US Navy has officially shut down all experiments involving dogs and cats, following sustained pressure from watchdog group White Coat Waste Project. The move comes after the group exposed a taxpayer-funded Navy lab running disturbing and painful tests on cats, including those already disabled.

The experiments, reportedly costing $10 million, included electroshock and other invasive procedures tied to research regarding conditions like erectile dysfunction and constipation.

The investigation triggered public outrage, which then sparked global media coverage. Pet owners, taxpayers, and animal rights advocates responded with force, demanding accountability for what many saw as government-sanctioned cruelty.

In the wake of the revelations, the White Coat Waste team framed the ban as both personal and overdue. Their campaign marks the end of a grim chapter of military-backed animal testing, but they have made it clear this fight is not over.

Anthony Bellotti, President and Founder of White Coat Waste, told WAN “White Coat Waste didn’t just shut down this one cat crippling lab—we ended all future dog and cat testing by the Navy, for good. As someone who’s proudly adopted several cat survivors who were rescued after White Coat Waste shut down their labs, this victory is deeply personal. Knowing that no more puppies or kittens will suffer behind Navy lab doors makes this a defining moment in the movement to end animal testing.”

“We’re grateful to Secretary John Phelan, Pete Hegseth, and the Trump Administration for this policy. Pets are family. For too long, beloved dogs and cats were abused in secretive government labs. That era is ending—because White Coat Waste is ending it. The solution is simple: Stop the Money. Stop the Madness,” added Bellotti.

PETA Reacts to White Coast Waste Members’ Initiative 

Animal rights organization PETA also responded, sending letters to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan. While thanking the administration for the Navy-specific ban, they urged broader action. 

in a statement, PETA Vice President Shalin Gala wrote "PETA appreciates the Trump administration’s decision to stop the Navy’s torture tests on dogs and cats, and we urge a broader ban across the Pentagon to end the use of animals in Navy-funded decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity tests, Army-funded weapon-wounding tests and DOD-funded foreign experiments.

For advocates, this represents a long-awaited acknowledgment that such practices have no place in a modern defence system. But with other branches yet to follow suit, campaigners say the focus must now shift to ending animal testing across the board.