The Preventing Animal Abuse and Waste Act would prohibit the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from conducting or funding any research that causes significant pain or distress to dogs or cats. The bill defines "significant pain or distress" as studies classified in the highest pain categories (D or E) under the Department of Agriculture's Pain and Distress Categories, which are used to assess animal welfare in research. The restriction would apply to all NIH-funded research and would take effect 90 days after the bill becomes law. The legislation essentially bars the NIH from supporting painful animal testing on these two common household pets, affecting biomedical researchers who rely on NIH funding and use dogs or cats in their studies.
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