Cats and Dogs Will No Longer Be Used in Navy Research, Secretary Says
Navy Secretary John Phelan announced last week that the service would halt the animal experiments and ordered a review of all medical research to ensure the studies align with ethical guidelines and "scientific necessity."
"Today, it gives me great pleasure to terminate all Department of the Navy's testing on cats and dogs, ending these inhumane practices and saving taxpayer dollars," Phelan said in a statement on the social media platform X.
Read Next: Hegseth Orders Navy to Strip Name of Gay Rights Icon Harvey Milk from Ship
The announcement follows a yearslong campaign by White Coat Waste Project, a nonprofit whose aim is to stop the U.S. government from using animals or funding research that harms animals, and to end several Defense Department studies, including Navy research on erectile dysfunction, constipation and incontinence in humans that used cats as subjects.
As recently as last year, the Defense Department funded a research initiative using beagles to test an experimental drug, according to the group. The DoD banned the use of dogs in trauma training and weapons testing in the late 1980s but has used them in limited medical research.
White Coat Waste estimates that the federal government spends $20 billion each year on research studies that involve dogs and cats.
"We applaud Secretary Phelan, Secretary Hegseth and President Trump for first slashing the U.S. government's largest dog lab and now sending the Pentagon's cat and dog abuse to the litterbox of history. Defunding dog and cat labs has been our top priority for Trump 47," the group's founder and president, Anthony Bellotti, said in a statement.
White Coat Waste announced in mid-May that the Pentagon halted funding for the Navy's $10.8 million medical research project on cats. The group credited conservative influencer Laura Loomer, who has called attention to the issue on her "Loomer Unleashed" podcast and social media platforms, and billionaire and presidential adviser Elon Musk for lobbying for change.
"We exposed animal testing contracts at the Department of Defense, and @PeteHegseth and Secretary Phelan took immediate action to end these cruel and abusive taxpayer-funded experiments on innocent animals," Loomer wrote on X on May 28. "This is such an amazing victory toward the end of taxpayer-funded animal testing!"
Last year, Congress signed legislation to end research at the Department of Veterans Affairs that used cats, dogs and primates. White Coat Waste began lobbying lawmakers to end the VA's use of live animals for experiments in 2017.
After Phelan's announcement, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wrote the Navy secretary and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thanking them for the change.
But they asked that the ban be expanded to include the use of live animals for non-medical research, such as trauma training and weapons experiments.
For example, according to PETA, the Navy continues to use mammals for decompression sickness and oxygen tests, while the Army is allowed to use mammals, including primates and marine mammals, in weapons testing.
"Pigs, rats and other animals feel pain and fear just as dogs and cats do, and their torment in gruesome military experiments must end," PETA Vice President Shalin Gala said in a statement.
"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."
PETA also has pressed the Pentagon to halt funding for research that involves animals at foreign institutions.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., reintroduced a bill last month that would end U.S. government funding of research that involves animals in China, including Hong Kong; Iran; North Korea; and Russia.
"American taxpayer dollars should never fund dangerous, cruel experiments in animal research labs -- much less in China or other adversarial countries," McClain said in a statement. "This common-sense legislation ensures taxpayer dollars are not wasted on reckless research."
"Hard-working taxpayers in eastern North Carolina and across America should not pay for risky experimentation in countries not subject to regular oversight and accountability," Democratic co-sponsor Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina, said in a news release.
-- Pentagon reporter Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.
Related: Military Trauma Training on Live Pigs, Goats Sparks New Lawsuit Seeking Details
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump has Hegseth's back. Some of Hegseth's allies worry it won't last.
When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired several members of his inner circle this spring, accusing them of leaking, the White House and top allies rallied behind him. Since then, many of those same people have come to privately believe Hegseth's allegations were false. After MAGA heavyweights from Tucker Carlson to Megyn Kelly began interviewing the ousted employees proclaiming their innocence, some White House officials and people close to Vice President JD Vance privately asked for proof of Hegseth's accusations, according to four people familiar with what happened. Hegseth's team indicated they did not have evidence, three of the people said. At least a half-dozen people across senior levels of the administration — including senior White House officials as well as high-ranking individuals at the Pentagon, State Department and in Trump's national security apparatus — have reached out to the fired employees to get their side of the story, according to the same four people. They expressed regret over the situation, and suggested the men — Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll — had been wrongfully accused. To President Donald Trump, it doesn't matter much. When it comes to the embattled secretary, the White House continues to stand by Hegseth. Despite controversy after controversy, bad headline after bad headline, Trump and his inner circle maintain that when it comes to protecting the nation, Hegseth's performance has been solid. The fact that he's still standing — even after appearing to falsely smearing his former friends — shows the lengths to which the president is willing to turn a blind eye to the chaos engulfing the Pentagon for a Cabinet official he's long been enamored with. 'A lot of people swirl shit to try to take him down, honestly — but talk of drama with him is overblown,' as one senior White House official, who like others in this story were granted anonymity to speak frankly about internal dynamics, told me recently. 'What I know is that everyone who matters has his back completely, currently.' There's no denying, however, that the relationship between the Pentagon's leadership suite and the West Wing is complicated. The White House for months has blocked Hegseth from officially naming a man he wants to be chief of staff, Ricky Buria — an aide they have long distrusted and even recently rebuffed from riding on Air Force One (though some Trump advisers say it was a spatial issue). And now, thanks to Hegseth's early firing frenzy — not to mention Signalgate — there are questions among some administration officials about his judgment. More troubling for Hegseth: The drama isn't over. In the past week alone, stories have popped suggesting the Pentagon's watchdog determined messages posted under Hegseth's account during SignalGate included content from classified emails— despite Hegseth's claims otherwise. A reporter at DailyMail intercepted a draft letter from concerned Pentagon employees accusing Hegseth of being unfit to serve. And POLITICO scooped that investigators are scrutinizing two of his closest confidants, a pair of top associates the White House has expressed concern about. 'There's going to be more shoes to drop all around,' said one person close with Hegseth. That's why a handful of Hegseth allies both inside and outside the Pentagon have engaged in something of an intervention with the secretary, according to the four people familiar with the discussions. Concerned that the laundry list of scandals could lead to his downfall, they've implored Hegseth in private conversations to rethink surrounding himself with people the White House distrusts. Others are urging Hegseth to make peace with the former employees he ousted and accused of leaking. A smaller group is even quietly working to help those employees land a public apology or some sort of exoneration of their character. 'If there's any chance at Pete resetting and ensuring that whatever time he has left in this position is well served, he's got to do it — otherwise Pete is just doubling down on the lie,' said the person close to Hegseth. So far, however, he has yet to heed the warning. In a statement, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump 'has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth, who is doing an incredible job leading the DOD.' 'President Trump and the entire White House team are fully behind Secretary Hegseth and every other Cabinet Secretary,' Kelly said. 'We will always fight back against fake news on behalf of the President's team, and that directive comes from the President.' The Pentagon said in a statement that 'Hegseth is laser focused on making our military the most lethal fighting force the world has ever seen.' 'Despite constant attacks from the Fake News Media, Secretary Hegseth's will to keep fighting and put our warfighters first is why our troops continue to endorse his ability to lead by signing up to serve in record numbers,' chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said. 'Secretary Hegseth is someone who will carry out the President's agenda no matter what." The three fired aides declined to comment, and Buria did not respond to a request for comment. This story is based on interviews with a dozen White House and Pentagon officials, Trump and Hegseth allies and others familiar with Hegseth's situation and his relationship with the president. They were all granted anonymity to speak candidly about the situation. Hegseth's almost Trumpian staying power is rooted in the president's long-held admiration for him. Down at Mar-a-Lago during the transition last winter, Trump officials had a shortlist of names of potential Defense secretaries for the president. But when Trump scanned through his options, he had a question they didn't anticipate. 'Where's Pete?' he asked, according to a senior administration official who worked on the transition, recounting a now joked-about story. His advisers looked around confused. Pete, who? 'Pete Hegseth,' Trump said, referring to the Fox News star he'd admired over the years. 'I want Pete.' Trump has long admired the energy of the handsome, Princeton-educated Hegseth. During the GOP presidential primaries, when he felt 'Fox and Friends' wasn't giving him enough positive coverage, Hegseth's fawning commentary on the weekend version of 'Fox & Friends' buoyed his mood. A plus: The veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan emanates the 'warrior ethos' masculinity that Trump admires. The president saw him as the perfect messenger for an administration salivating to take a chainsaw to what MAGA viewed as the woke sensibilities of the armed forces. That desire ultimately won out even after Hegseth initially failed to disclose to the transition team that he'd paid a woman who alleged he sexually assaulted her as part of a settlement. (He has denied that accusation and was never charged.) And it stayed with Trump throughout the spring when Signalgate erupted. Notably, it was Michael Waltz who took the fall for adding a journalist to the chain. Trump, meanwhile, stood with Hegseth — even as many in the media speculated he was about to get canned. 'Keep fighting — I love what you're doing,' Trump told Hegseth during one meeting amid the controversy, a second White House official recounted. 'Whatever you need. You're a killer.' At the time, I asked one White House official why the administration stood by Hegseth despite the chaos. The answer was simple: Team Trump had put so much political capital in getting him confirmed that it would take a whole lot more dirt to send him packing. The reality is Trump doesn't give a fig about how Hegseth treats his staff, or whether there's an investigation into his use of Signal and classified documents, said one of the White House officials and three outside allies. 'He doesn't care about the palace intrigue stuff — he just doesn't,' said one top ally. 'It's not drama that impacts him or his agenda.' Nowadays, Trump's inner circle gives Hegseth props for the successful execution of Operation Midnight Hammer, the covert U.S. bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities and the military's joint-taskforce at the border. They credit him for historic recruitment and boosted morale with the troops who adore him. And they love that he's leading on Trump's desire to build a Golden Dome missile defense system to protect the U.S. Still, there's a dirty little secret that folks in the White House won't voice but their allies on the outside admit: No matter the drama, White House officials have to find a way to work with him because Trump has made clear that Hegseth is not going anywhere. 'The boss loves him — so it's like, 'We'll make it work,'' said one Trump ally close with the inner circle who has been aghast at the headlines. The endless ability to forgive on Hegseth's behalf is particularly acute in the situation regarding the treatment of the fired employees, some who had known Hegseth for more than a decade and worked with him at a previous employer. Hegseth not only publicly harangued them as leakers but mused that his ex-buddies could be prosecuted by the Justice Department. The allegations against those men led to death threats after they were harassed by an online mob. They've had to shell out tens of thousands in lawyer fees trying to determine if they were in legal peril, according to two people familiar with the situation. And they've had to try to rebuild their image after taking a reputational hit from the accusations. 'These guys will have difficulty ever working in Washington again or anywhere across the national security space,' as one Hegseth ally who sympathizes with the employees said. The chain of events at the Pentagon that led to the aides' ouster was ugly — particularly for an agency charged with protecting the nation. As POLITICO first reported at the time, rivalries and jockeying hovered over the defense secretary's inner circle, as senior advisers sought to push out other staff and assert their dominance. Meanwhile, rumors swirled among Hegseth's closest advisers that there was proof of leaking obtained via surveillance of one of the employees' phones — surveillance that actually never occurred, three people familiar with the situation say. Instead of blaming Hegseth for the snafu, some administration officials and people close to the secretary have fingered underlings. They argue Hegseth stayed away from the internal probe because it involved his friends, and he relied on information from people below him, who suggested there was good reason for the firings. 'Pete doesn't run personnel; he runs the military… So if anybody says he bungled this, that just shows profound ignorance,' Hegseth's public hammer and Trump operative Arthur Schwartz told me, growling at my question about whether Hegseth has some responsibility for the bungled firings of those employees. Others familiar with what happened fault Hegseth for turning a private spat into public torment, because he both made the final call to fire the employees, and went public with the leak allegation — even though such suspicions are typically handled via private investigations. Advisers told Hegseth after a day or two to stop calling the men leakers and discussing them on television, according to the person close with Hegseth and another individual familiar with the post-firings dynamics. Earlier this summer, the fired employees were informed by investigators that they were not targets of a probe, according to two people familiar. But the saga isn't over, with some people close to Hegseth, allies of the ex-aides and even some in the Trump administration quietly pushing to clear their names. 'You make right for people you've wronged. You can't identify yourself in the way Pete does as a rediscovered Christian and treat people like this,' said the person close with Hegseth. Since the firings, MAGA World has rallied behind the ousted staffers. Caldwell has been invited on Steve Bannon's show as well as other MAGA-type podcasts and invited to speak at Trump-aligned events. Selnick was recently hired as a senior adviser to an 'America First' veterans group run by one of Hegseth's most vocal defenders during his brutal confirmation fight, Mark Lucas. Still, there's a sense that such moves won't be enough. Some want a public apology from Hegseth himself, though two of the aforementioned people close to the situation say that's unlikely. Others have discussed whether the Defense Department could issue some sort of statement late on a Friday night — enough to clear the men but not cause a huge ruckus for Hegseth. But there's resistance. Someone close to Hegseth said he continues to insist he was in the right in ousting the employees, and that much like Trump, he's not interested in backing down. 'Pete doesn't want to take responsibility or be accountable,' said the person. Any push to clear the men would be 'overshadowed by the importance of not being embarrassed,' the person continued, arguing that Hegseth would look bad for flipflopping on accusations he spat fire about for days. 'What he fears most is the president thinking he doesn't control the building. So the lie has got to uphold.' While American troops appear to love Hegseth, among the senior ranks of the Pentagon, morale continues to drag, according to three of the aforementioned people familiar with the situation, including one actively working in the Pentagon. Hegseth's Pentagon is still rife with infighting that rears its head in the news every few weeks. And all the drama in recent months has caused an atmosphere of paranoia, making people look over their shoulders. 'All anybody has to do is make up an accusation that you've done something illegal with classified information and they have to investigate. They don't need evidence at all,' said one of the people familiar with the situation, who is a Hegseth critic. 'So people in the building are scared to death. If they did that to Pete's closest friends, what's then stopping them from making up a charge against me?' Even the person close with Hegseth shared that sentiment: 'It's like the crème de la crème of dysfunction.' Meanwhile, some Trump allies watching it all from the outside continue to express concern about the headlines they're reading. Hegseth, said one of the aforementioned Trump allies, may be working out with the troops and doing a bunch of feel-good events with soldiers. 'But the question is: how much time should you spend in the building — running it, being an effective leader — rather than being on social media, on TV?' For now, those concerns haven't permeated the upper echelons of the White House. To the contrary, many in Trump's orbit believe Hegseth's critics have it out for him, making them more sympathetic to a fellow Cabinet official they feel is constantly under siege by his haters and the media. 'There are ongoing palace-intrigue attempts by people who frankly don't want him to succeed for reasons that are sort of unrelated to the work of being Secretary of Defense,' said the senior White House official, who declined to elaborate. Still, even that official acknowledged to me that no one in the administration is ever untouchable. And Hegseth's critics say they can be patient. 'If they want to give Pete a pass — fine,' said one of them. 'Because at the end of the day, he's going to keep fucking up.'
Politico
5 hours ago
- Politico
Trump has Hegseth's back. Some of Hegseth's allies worry it won't last.
'Where's Pete?' he asked, according to a senior administration official who worked on the transition, recounting a now joked-about story. His advisers looked around confused. Pete, who? 'Pete Hegseth,' Trump said, referring to the Fox News star he'd admired over the years. 'I want Pete.' Trump has long admired the energy of the handsome, Princeton-educated Hegseth. During the GOP presidential primaries, when he felt 'Fox and Friends' wasn't giving him enough positive coverage, Hegseth's fawning commentary on the weekend version of 'Fox & Friends' buoyed his mood. A plus: The veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan emanates the 'warrior ethos' masculinity that Trump admires. The president saw him as the perfect messenger for an administration salivating to take a chainsaw to what MAGA viewed as the woke sensibilities of the armed forces. That desire ultimately won out even after Hegseth initially failed to disclose to the transition team that he'd paid a woman who alleged he sexually assaulted her as part of a settlement. (He has denied that accusation and was never charged.) And it stayed with Trump throughout the spring when Signalgate erupted. Notably, it was Michael Waltz who took the fall for adding a journalist to the chain. Trump, meanwhile, stood with Hegseth — even as many in the media speculated he was about to get canned. 'Keep fighting — I love what you're doing,' Trump told Hegseth during one meeting amid the controversy, a second White House official recounted. 'Whatever you need. You're a killer.' At the time, I asked one White House official why the administration stood by Hegseth despite the chaos. The answer was simple: Team Trump had put so much political capital in getting him confirmed that it would take a whole lot more dirt to send him packing. The reality is Trump doesn't give a fig about how Hegseth treats his staff, or whether there's an investigation into his use of Signal and classified documents, said one of the White House officials and three outside allies. 'He doesn't care about the palace intrigue stuff — he just doesn't,' said one top ally. 'It's not drama that impacts him or his agenda.' Nowadays, Trump's inner circle gives Hegseth props for the successful execution of Operation Midnight Hammer, the covert U.S. bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities and the military's joint-taskforce at the border. They credit him for historic recruitment and boosted morale with the troops who adore him. And they love that he's leading on Trump's desire to build a Golden Dome missile defense system to protect the U.S. Still, there's a dirty little secret that folks in the White House won't voice but their allies on the outside admit: No matter the drama, White House officials have to find a way to work with him because Trump has made clear that Hegseth is not going anywhere. 'The boss loves him — so it's like, 'We'll make it work,'' said one Trump ally close with the inner circle who has been aghast at the headlines. 'This is bullshit' The endless ability to forgive on Hegseth's behalf is particularly acute in the situation regarding the treatment of the fired employees, some who had known Hegseth for more than a decade and worked with him at a previous employer. Hegseth not only publicly harangued them as leakers but mused that his ex-buddies could be prosecuted by the Justice Department.
New York Post
17 hours ago
- New York Post
Ukrainian drone attacks force Russia to cancel naval parade during Putin visit
MOSCOW — Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns. St. Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva River and is attended by Putin. Last year, Russia suspected a Ukrainian plan to attack the city's parade, according to state television. 5 Russian President Vladimir Putin shaking with Russian Navy officers during a visit to St. Petersburg for Navy Day on July 27, 2025. Alexei Danichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP 5 Putin, third from left, on board a Navy boat in St. Petersburg. Alexei Danichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been cancelled for security reasons, following first reports of its cancellation in early July. Putin arrived at the city's historic naval headquarters on Sunday by patrol speed boat, from where he followed drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and Baltic and Caspian Seas. 'Today we are marking this holiday in a working setting, we are inspecting the combat readiness of the fleet,' Putin said in a video address. 5 People gathered at the frigate 'Admiral Grigorovich' in Kronstadt outside of St. Petersburg for Putin's visit. Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP 5 Putin greeting locals during the Navy Day celebration. 5 A woman walking past a replica of a Russian 54-gun sailing ship built in 1712 in St. Petersburg. AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky The Russian Defence Ministry said air defense units downed a total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7, ahead of Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St. Petersburg, said that over ten drones were downed over the area, and falling debris injured a woman. At 8:40 GMT on Sunday Drozdenko said that the attack was repelled. St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport was closed during the attack, with 57 flights delayed and 22 diverted to other airports, according to a statement. Pulkovo resumed operations later on Sunday. Russian blogger Alexander Yunashev, part of an official group of reporters traveling with Peskov, said Peskov had told him their flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg had been delayed by the drone attack for 2 hours on Sunday.
