Problem
A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that a 2017 project at the Zablocki VA medical center involved testing on beagle puppies. The attached procurement document details that on January 3, 2017, nine 6 to 8-month-old beagle puppies were delivered to Zablocki for these experiments.
The puppies were allegedly to be sedated, restrained in stereotaxic devices, have their heads and necks dissected, their lungs intentionally collapsed, holes drilled into their skulls, their brains cut apart, and then thrown away, in the name of curiosity-driven experiments.
As taxpayers, we should know whether these experiments had any application for veterans or other Americans. What happened to these puppies? How much was spent on the testing? What were the results of the testing on them? Do the results, if any, offer benefits to ill, wounded, or disabled veterans, and what are the benefits?
Were cost-efficient alternatives to such testing available? Why or why not?

Solution
Alternatives to pain-inducing canine testing and the benefits. What the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t want you, the American taxpayer, to know:
ALTERNATIVES
-in vitro methods & models based on human cell & tissue cultures
-computerized patient-drug databases & virtual drug trials
-computer models & simulations
-stem cell & genetic testing methods
-non-invasive imaging techniques
-microdosing in humans
BENEFITS
-Alternative scientific tests are often more reliable than animal tests
-Use of human tissue in toxicity testing is more accurate than the animal models
-Non-animal tests are more cost-effective, practical & expedient