Oregon Health and Science University made a promise earlier this year: it would explore turning its primate research center into a sanctuary, giving more than 5,500 macaques, baboons, and squirrel monkeys a life free from experiments. Then the bills came in, and the federal government said it wouldn't pay.

In January, a consulting report found the transition would cost between $220 million and $291 million over eight years. The National Institutes of Health declined to fully fund the shift. So last Monday, OHSU's board voted unanimously to keep testing, reversing course on the sanctuary plan entirely.

This is a failure of federal follow-through, not scientific necessity. The Trump administration has publicly championed ending animal testing and backed new technologies like human organ chips as viable alternatives. But championing a cause without paying for it isn't leadership, it's an empty promise made at the expense of animals who have no voice.

Congress and the NIH have the power to change this. Funding the OHSU sanctuary conversion, and investing seriously in testing alternatives, would move the science forward and make good on a commitment that was made to the public, and to these animals.

Sign this petition to demand the federal government fund the transition of OHSU's primate center to a sanctuary. These animals were promised safety. Don't let a budget gap take it away.