Detroit Lions Tight End Backs Legislation To Ban Painful Dog Testing at Michigan Universities
Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta and his wife, Callie Dellinger LaPorta, sent a letter to Michigan legislative leaders in November. They pushed for passage of Queenie’s Law. The proposed law…
Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta and his wife, Callie Dellinger LaPorta, sent a letter to Michigan legislative leaders in November. They pushed for passage of Queenie's Law. The proposed law would ban painful dog experiments at public institutions. The two-bill package sits in committee in both chambers after getting a House hearing in late October.
The legislation would stop public bodies from experimenting on dogs in ways that cause pain or distress. Senate Bill 127 has stayed in the Senate Committee on Regulatory Affairs since March. House Bill 4254 moved from the House Committee on Regulatory Reform to the House Committee on Rules.
The bills are named after a dalmatian that died in 2010 following cardiology research at Wayne State University. Researchers implanted devices around her chest cavity to study heart failure, then forced her to run on treadmills.
Records show Wayne State has done these experiments since 1991. The school has gotten about $17 million in public funds for this research. The implantation process can be fatal to dogs. Survivors experience painful disorders from the procedures before they die or are killed, according to a 2024 statement from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Actors Lily Tomlin and Ernie Hudson, both from Michigan, also support the proposal. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says human-relevant methods like patient population studies or donated human hearts can produce similar results.
MichBio, a biosciences industry trade association, opposes the measure. "Dogs, in particular, have been used in cardiovascular research for more than a century because their physiology, heart size, and conduction system more closely resemble humans than small-animal species," MichBio President and CEO Stephen Rapundalo told lawmakers in recent testimony per Bridge Michigan.
State Sen. Paul Wojno introduced the Senate version in March. Violators would face civil fines between $1,000 and $5,000 for each dog experimented upon. Revenue from fines would go toward public and county law libraries.
Versions of the bill have been introduced since the 2019-2020 term. None have reached Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's desk.
