“35 Years of Dead-End Experiments”—Doctors Group, Sen. Polehanki Protest Wayne State Dog Experiments at Crucial Moment

DETROIT, Mich.—Wayne State University is home to the country’s oldest government-funded dog experiments, first started in 1991. But with the National Institutes of Health grant set to expire at the end of this month and new leadership at Wayne State, a nonprofit medical ethics group and state senator think now is the perfect time for change. Today, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia), and others gathered on campus to deliver more than 100,000 petitions to newly appointed university president Richard Bierschbach.

Demonstrators held a banner listing the outcomes of the experiments: “300+ dead dogs,” “$15 million wasted,” and “Zero benefit to patients.”

In recent months, the issue has brought together a diverse group of opponents, including Detroit Lions players Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright, Hollywood actors, and Republican and Democratic lawmakers. On Feb. 5, a bipartisan group of 11 members of the Michigan House of Representatives wrote to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya to ask that they deny continued funding to the Wayne State experiments.

The letter from legislators cited public records showing that the university’s “botched surgeries have led to many dogs suffering such extreme internal injuries that their chest cavities fill with blood, making it painfully difficult to breathe and requiring university staff to put them out of their misery. Other dogs are found dead in their cages.”

Federal agencies have been making moves to replace dog experiments. In May 2025, NIH closed its last in-house beagle lab. In June, the U.S. Navy announced it will no longer use dogs or cats in research. And in December, the annual federal defense bill was signed into law with a ban on painful dog and cat studies.

“President Bierschbach can put an end to these deadly, useless dog experiments,” said Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy for the Physicians Committee. “For 35 years, Wayne State has been wasting taxpayer money and failing patients.”

The Physicians Committee points out that human-relevant methods like trials involving patients, population studies, 3D organoids, and the use of donated human hearts are producing results for patients. In 2015, the Texas Heart Institute, dedicated solely to addressing cardiovascular disease, stopped using dogs altogether.

To see photos of the petition delivery and demonstration or to speak with Mr. Merkley, please contact Reina Pohl at 202-527-7326 or rpohl [at] pcrm.org.