Save Millions in Wasted Taxpayer Money at HHS: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
March 27, 2025

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Washington –

Please see the following statement from PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna regarding the announcement made earlier today by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that 10,000 federal workers from the Department of Health and Human Services would be laid off in a cost-cutting move to streamline the department:

PETA applauds efforts to save taxpayer money and cut waste from the Department of Health and Human Services, and for years, we’ve pointed to plenty of easy cuts to save millions. PETA believes in fiscal responsibility, good science, and ethical choices. We propose three cuts that achieve the department’s goals, save taxpayers millions, and enhance scientific progress—all while sparing the lives of tens of thousands of animals every year:

Charles River Laboratories, recently under federal investigation for its possible role in an illegal and worldwide monkey laundering scheme, has fattened itself at the taxpayer trough since 2018, lapping up at least $300 million in contracts with NIH. Cut those contracts.
Alpha Genesis, which grabbed national headlines after letting 43 monkeys escape from its facilities and has a lengthy rap sheet of cruelty and federal violations, eats $19 million in federal NIH contracts. Cut them.
The seven NIH-funded National Primate Research Centers, which have not made good on promised vaccines or treatments in 60 years and have repeatedly violated federal animal protection laws, are a bloated drain on scientific research. Close them.

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.