Journals Question Caucaseco Research, but NIH Wants to Give It More Tax Money
Update (January 16, 2025): In an inexplicable reversal that defies common sense and ethics, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which plied the Caucaseco Scientific Research Center with $17 million in tax money before PETA’s 18-month damning investigation, informed the founder of the sham operation that he can apply for funding again. This stunning development is even more infuriating in light of rare moves on the part of two respected journals based on the information we provided. PlosOne just retracted an article by the Caucaseco experimenters due to the lack of needed permits, and the journal Infection and Immunity expressed concerns about four other articles over the lack of scientific rigor produced from the decrepit “laboratory,” the illegal capture of monkeys, committing “harm to wildlife,” and a criminal investigation by Colombian authorities. The Caucaseco/NIH fiasco epitomizes why we need the CARGO Act, which would prohibit the agency from funding experiments on animals outside the U.S. Please urge your U.S. representative to support this bill.
Originally published on July 5, 2023:
HUGE VICTORY! PETA has received news that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has finally acted and officially shut off the spigot of money flowing to the Colombian organizations at the center of an 18-month PETA investigation.
No more taxpayer dollars will go to fund the Caucaseco Scientific Research Center and the Malaria Vaccine and Development Center (MVDC). As of June 29, according to NIH correspondence PETA has received, those two organizations became ineligible to receive NIH grants in the future.
The funding cancellation by NIH means it’s unlikely Caucaseco will ever reopen its doors or torment any other animals in pointless experiments.
NIH lagged far behind Colombian authorities, who, beginning months ago, cracked down on Caucaseco, stopping all animal experiments there, closing the facilities, and seizing nearly 300 animals, many of whom suffered from maladies both old and new.
A Colombian regional environmental agency filed formal charges against Caucaseco for lacking permits to experiment on monkeys and to capture squirrel monkeys, causing “harm to wildlife,” and for other violations. The Colombian comptroller general audited the owners’ contracts and found several irregularities that warrant disciplinary action. He requested a refund of at least $157,000.
Colombian auditors have also found irregularities in the organization’s books. Further charges may be on the way.
But NIH, which has given Caucaseco and the MVDC $17 million since 2003 to fund pointless malaria tests that produced no treatment or cure for humans, sat on its hands. PETA repeatedly called for NIH to dry up its funding, cancel its contracts, and recoup the money already given to the organizations. Even recently, NIH appeared to still be backing Caucaseco, trying to help it continue operations and receive funding in another country.
What You Can Do
NIH is adept at wasting billions of dollars on cruel and useless experiments, many being conducted in its own laboratories. Urge the agency to stop using tax dollars to torment monkeys in ridiculous fright experiments.
