Bipartisan bill on animal testing transparency is downgraded to study after industry pushback

RICHMOND — Legislation intended to shed light on animal experiments at state-funded facilities has been heavily amended after pushback from several universities.

The original bill, from Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, and Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, would have required the facilities to publicize information about the number of animals used for testing and how they were obtained, as well as the percentage of funds spent on animal testing. It also would have prohibited the facilities from charging more than $25 to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act submission related to federal animal welfare violations.

The amended version would now direct the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) and the State Council of Higher Education to convene a task force to study potential transparency deficiencies at publicly-funded facilities that conduct animal experiments.

Boysko said she amended her bill after it became clear the original measure would not progress. During a meeting last month, the Senate Companion Animals Subcommittee heard from several universities that opposed the legislation.

“I am disappointed,” Boysko said Thursday. “I think having sunshine and transparency for how research institutions are using our tax dollars should be a basic expectation.”

Ross Grogg with Kemper Consulting addressed legislators on behalf of Eastern Virginia Medical School. He said counting every animal would be complicated.

“It requires manpower,” he said. “Members have suggested that we could just have a grad student stand and count animals, but that’s just not how this could be implemented. Counting and the cost of counting would be a significant burden on the institution.”

Annie Gibson, associate vice president for governmental relations for Old Dominion University, shared similar concerns. She estimated it would cost ODU about $700,000 to comply with the bill.

“In addition, we do fear a chilling effect on our recruitment of outside researchers,” she said.

Connor Andrews, legislative liaison for the University of Virginia, spoke against the FOIA requirements. He said the cost of fulfilling a FOIA submission should depend on the time needed to prepare and review the information.

Stanley, a subcommittee member, argued it was important for the public to easily access information, including about how the facilities’ dispose of animals.

“Are you putting them out into the grass or the ground or are you grinding them up or leaving them in dumpsters? Don’t you think that’s maybe something we should all know?” Stanley asked.

Andrews said he could find out about disposal methods from researchers.

Sen. Barbara Favola, an Arlington Democrat who chairs the subcommittee, lightly scolded Stanley and urged him to be more positive.

“I can’t find a lot positive about the horrible experimentation of animals but that’s me,” Stanley said. “Envigo beagles: Two words.”

Severe abuses at an Envigo-owned facility in Cumberland County that bred dogs for experiments garnered national attention in 2021. Virginia subsequently passed several new laws in 2022 to strengthen protections for cats and dogs in breeding facilities.

Other groups spoke in favor of the bill.

Tabitha Treloar, spokesperson for the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the legislation would only make institutions follow the same rules already required of shelters.

“Every shelter in Virginia, private or public, has to annually report statistical information to VDACS regarding the number and type of animals we take in and their outcomes,” she said, adding that public scrutiny helps shelters improve.

Daphna Nachminovitch, senior vice president of PETA’s Cruelty Investigations Department, said it was fair to expect transparency because the facilities receive public money.

“The commonwealth gave five of our public universities, Virginia Tech, UVA, VCU, ODU and EVMS, more than $133 million for research and development (in 2022),” she said. “Is it really too much to ask our public universities how many animals they have and how much money they spend on animal vs non-animal experiments?”

Boysko told the subcommittee the legislation was especially crucial in light of recent animal welfare violations.

She said five public universities in Virginia have received 88 federal animal welfare violations since 2015. Two of those universities, ODU and Eastern Virginia Medical School, are in Hampton Roads.

Amid the concerns raised by universities, Favola advised Boysko to consider altering the bill to form a work study.

Fearing her bill would otherwise be killed, Boysko told The Virginian-Pilot she agreed. The amended bill passed the Senate with unanimous support for the third time on Thursday.

“I do hope (the task force) will be meaningful,” she said. “It’s my hope that we will be able to make inroads on this.”

Other animal welfare legislation this year is continuing to progress in the General Assembly. One bill in the House would ban the declawing cats and another would prohibit the use of “pain-inflicting training tools” on elephants, like the bullhook.

A third bill, which has already passed the Senate, would allow localities to establish public animal cruelty registries so groups or individuals selling or giving animals away could easily research whether potential new owners had animal abuse convictions.

Another Senate bill that would have created a fund to reimburse veterinarians for sterilization surgeries they perform on cats and dogs from lower-income homes was continued to next year.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com