Giant PETA ‘Mouse’ Will Appear at MAGA Victory Rally and Inauguration to Urge End to Wasteful Animal Tests

For Immediate Release:
January 17, 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 the Make America Great Again Victory Rally on Sunday and President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, letting the incoming administration know that ending the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) cruel and archaic experiments on animals will stop the annual waste of billions of tax dollars. This message will be echoed by a mobile billboard circling downtown and posters hung throughout the area.

NIH squanders $23 billion annually, nearly half its annual budget, on animal experiments—although 90% of basic research, most of which involves animals, fails to lead to effective treatments for humans. In addition, 95% of new drugs that test safe and effective in animals later fail in humans. PETA scientists have developed a strategy to phase out experiments on animals and implement modern, human-relevant research methods.

“NIH kills animals and flushes billions down the drain every year on painful and pointless experiments that benefit no one,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “PETA urges our new leadership to redirect taxpayer funds to cutting-edge, non-animal research that could actually produce treatments and cures for humans.”

When & Where:
Sunday, January 19, 2 p.m.
Outside the MAGA Victory Rally
Capital One Arena, 601 F St. N.W., Washington, D.C.    

Monday, January 20, 8 a.m.–12 p.m.
Outside the inauguration ceremony and around the U.S. Capitol building, Washington, D.C.

Monday, January 20, 7 p.m.
Outside the 2025 Presidential Inaugural Ball,
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.

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.

Note: PETA supports animal rights, opposes all forms of animal exploitation, and educates the public on those issues. PETA does not directly or indirectly participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office or any political party.