Photo Op: Giant ‘Mouse’ at Trump’s Congressional Address Urges “Cut Money-Squandering Animal Tests”

For Immediate Release:
March 4, 2025

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

A giant PETA “mouse” will share the message “NIH Wasted $23 Billion on Animal Tests Last Year!” outside President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress in the Capitol tonight, urging officials to end the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) annual squandering of billions of dollars on go-nowhere experiments on animals that help no one.

NIH squanders $23 billion annually, nearly half its annual budget, on animal tests—although 90% of basic research, most involving animals, fails to lead to effective human treatments. And 95% of new drugs that test safe and effective in other species fail in humans. PETA scientists have developed a strategy to phase out wasteful, decades-long “career” experiments on animals and implement state-of-the-art, human-relevant research.

“NIH flushes billions down the drain every year on painful and pointless animal experiments that benefit no one,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “PETA urges our new administration, which is set on cutting NIH’s bloated budget, to start with animal experiments that go on for years with no accountability.”

When: Tuesday, March 4, 8 p.m.

Where: Outside the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. (Near the intersection of First Street N.E. and East Capitol Street N.E.)

Interviews will be available on-site and remotely. Photos will be available here after the event.

PETA’s mouse outside President Trump’s inauguration event. Credit: PETA

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.