Professional Perspectives: A New Federal Bill Would Bring Government-Funded Animal Experiments Out of the Shadows

By Sadie Jacobs | September 18th, 2025

Each year, more than 1,000 laboratories across the United States use animals in federally funded experiments. However, despite those labs using billions in taxpayer dollars, there is no comprehensive system for tracking or reporting how many animals they use, what species are involved, or the severity of those animals’ suffering.

Currently, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) covers less than 5% of animals used in labs. The remaining 95%—including nearly all mice and rats and many birds—are not covered by this law and are exempt from its reporting requirements. Yet while all those animals are excluded from the AWA, the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—the largest funder of animal experiments in the country, spending more than $20 billion annually on projects involving animals— is governed by a law that covers has rules that cover all vertebrates. The agency NIH collects rough estimates of animals every four years, but does not make them available to the public without time-consuming Freedom of Information Act requests. This data gap makes it impossible to understand the true scale of animal experimentation occurring on the taxpayer’s dime or to evaluate whether efforts to reduce animal use nationwide are actually working.

The Federal Animal Research Accountability Act

The Federal Animal Research Accountability (FARA) Act (H.R. 3295)—introduced by Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Don Davis (D-N.C.), and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.)—aims to change that. This legislation would shine a light on the opaque world of animal experiments funded by the Public Health Service (PHS) agencies, which includes the NIH.

The FARA Act would require all institutions receiving PHS funds to submit annual, detailed reports on their use of animals in experiments. These reports would include the number and species of animals used, the level of pain or distress experienced, and how many animals were bred, housed, or euthanized without being used in experiments. Currently, this information is already reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the 5% of animals covered under the AWA.

Most importantly, this information would be made publicly available on a centralized, searchable database hosted by the NIH. This would allow taxpayers, journalists, scientists, and policymakers to evaluate how tax dollars are being spent and whether humane alternatives are being pursued.

To highlight the urgency of this issue, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine hosted a congressional briefing on September 9. The event, held on Capitol Hill, featured remarks from Rep. Davis and presentations by leading experts, including Dr. Nicole Kleinstreuer of the NIH, Dr. Thomas Hartung of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Kathy Hessler of The George Washington University Law School, and Physicians Committee Director of Research Advocacy Ryan Merkley. Panelists discussed how the FARA Act would close critical data gaps, how NIH is advancing non-animal research and testing methods, and how these methods can improve public health.

Why Transparency Matters

Transparency is not just a matter of public accountability—it is essential for driving progress in both science and ethics. Without knowing how many animals are used, it is impossible to measure the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing their use or improving their welfare.

Other countries are already doing this. The United Kingdom, the European Union, and Canada all publish detailed, species-specific data on the number of animals used in experiments.

While the U.S. remains stuck in the dark, there is reason for hope. In April, the NIH and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to reduce and eventually replace the use of animal experiments with more effective, human-relevant methods. The FARA Act would allow us to measure progress toward that goal.

Closing the Data Gap

Passage of the FARA Act would be a critical milestone in bringing U.S. policy surrounding animal experiments into the 21st century. With access to accurate data, lawmakers can better evaluate where tax dollars are going, scientists can track the adoption of alternatives, and the public can engage in informed debate about the ethics and efficiency of animal experiments.

The public has a right to know how taxpayer money is being used—especially when it involves sentient beings enduring pain and distress in government-funded experiments. The FARA Act provides a practical, bipartisan solution to a long-standing problem: the lack of transparency in federal animal experiments.

By making data accessible, the Act will help ensure that animal use in experiments is subject to scrutiny, debate, and ultimately, improvement. It’s time for the U.S. to join its global peers in prioritizing transparency, ethics, and scientific progress.  

Sadie Jacobs, JD, LLM, is a Research Advocacy Coordinator for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She holds an Animal Law LLM (magna cum laude) from Lewis & Clark Law School, a JD from Vermont Law & Graduate School, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado Boulder. With a background in animal law and advocacy, she works to bridge the gap between legal frameworks and ethical research practices.

The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Johns Hopkins University or Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.