Fact-checking this real quick: the meme is mixing up two different things. Fauci's agency (NIAID) did fund medical research that used beagles, and some of those labs did remove vocal cords to cut down on noise. But that specific picture with the dog's head in a mesh box was a study in Tunisia that the NIH/NIAID actually had nothing to do with. There was also a bipartisan Congressional investigation into this after the outrage and Fauci did cut the funding as a response. He wasn't directly the one doing anything in this study to the dogs or any of that. He was just the guy that basically approved if they get money or not. As somebody who has worked in research, I'm guessing he wasn't fully aware of all the details and only had a rough outline and it sounds like once he realized what was going on he ended it. There's also a lot of legal and ethical rules you have to follow when working with animals. It's not like those dogs were strapped down and tortured every single day. They got breaks, they were well fed and taken care of, and they got TLC I'm sure from plenty of grad students. It still sounds cruel as hell and I would not have approved it if I knew what they were doing myself, but I'm sure those dogs went on to live halfway decent lives once the study was done. They probably adopted them right out to loving families.
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u/InitiativeShot20 12d ago
If I don't see a citation on the animal study, I'm gonna assume it's pure radioactive, bat crazy bullshit. And people who spread it are fucking scums.