Monkeys blinded by experimenters in France …

Dogs deliberately addicted to opioids in Australia …

Cats genetically manipulated to create leg deformities in Canada …

Rabbits used as live bait for ravenous sandflies in Tunisia …

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the U.S. has been throwing billions of dollars at foreign laboratories to bankroll cruel, pointless experiments on animals like these. It’s an issue that hits close to home for me when I look into the eyes of my beloved beagle companion, Archie.

He spent six years inside a South Korean laboratory before I met him, and today the number tattooed on his ear is a powerful reminder that he was once considered little more than a piece of living laboratory equipment by those who experimented on him. His whole world changed when he was liberated from that dreadful situation. Archie suddenly had the chance to learn the joys of being a dog at 6 years of age, from feeling grass beneath his paws for the first time to experiencing a warm bed with treats and toys.

When Archie was liberated and flown to the U.S. to start the life he was always meant to have, the torture he endured wasn’t disclosed. While he’s a happy, loving dog now, the scars of his past are evident when a noise we can’t hear startles him on a walk and causes him to freeze or when he recoils from a touch with fear in his eyes. Seeing his joy is priceless, but knowing his pain is why I’m so invested in the CARGO Act.

One of NIH’s goals is to find ways to “enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.” While this objective is admirable, the organization’s choice to fund unreliable and cruel tests on animals isn’t going to accomplish it.

The bipartisan Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas (CARGO) Act (HR 4757), introduced by Reps. Dina Titus (D-Nev.-01) and Troy Nehls (R-Texas-22), would prevent NIH from funding any experiments on animals outside the U.S.

It would spare animals like Archie a horrible fate while improving science worldwide because experiments on animals overwhelmingly fail to lead to treatments for humans. A full 95% of new medications that test safe and effective on animals go on to fail in human trials. American tax dollars should support only the best research. Knowing that my sweet companion was forced to endure such cruel testing is painful enough, but when you look at the statistics and know there are better options that don’t include torturing animals, it’s infuriating—which is why we need to help ensure this legislation passes!

This bill would also save money—lots of it. NIH shelled out about $2.2 billion in taxpayer funding to foreign organizations during the decade ending in 2021. This money went to approximately 200 foreign organizations and funded more than 1,350 grants and contracts involving experiments on animals in 45 countries. I know that having the guarantee my tax dollars will not go toward experiments on animals overseas would give me peace of mind.

Animals like Archie will benefit from this crucial bill, and you can help. Please join thousands of supporters of commonsense legislation by taking action to urge your U.S. representative to support the CARGO Act today: