People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is urging the Department of Defense to halt microwave and radio frequency testing to determine the human toll on animals in a mysterious health phenomenon called "Havana Syndrome."
In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the animal rights group said the department should stop conducting lethal weapons tests on a wide range of animals, including dogs, cats, marine animals and non-human primates.
For years, US officials have been searching for the causes of unusual health problems (AHIs) afflicting intelligence officials and diplomats around the world. The term was coined in 2016 after employees at the US Embassy in Havana reported complaints ranging from headaches to balance disorders and other neurological problems. Since then, authorities in several cities around the world have reported similar illnesses.
The push by animal rights groups comes after the federal government announced funding last year for evidence that radio waves could be behind an unsolved disease that Politico first reported on.
PETA cited a $750,000 contract awarded to Wayne State University last year to test the potential for replication in otters.
The government's animal testing came to light after a US intelligence report earlier this month said it was unlikely a foreign government was behind the health incident, which is believed to be the case. The report stated that it was unreasonable for a foreign government to own weapons that could harm humanity.
"The information obtained contradicts the involvement of an opponent of the United States in the falsification of reported events," the updated report said. "There is no reliable evidence that a foreign adversary possesses weapons or equipment capable of causing AHI."
PETA concluded the report by calling the funding of experiments at Wayne State University "not only cruel and time-consuming, but also pointless."
"Our primary concern is caring for the injured as the health and safety of our personnel is our top priority," the Department of Defense said in a statement to The Hill.
"Wayne State University (with collaborators at the University of Michigan) will develop and test a new experimental animal model with funding from a congressional-led medical research program," a Pentagon spokesman said. “Behavioural, imaging and histological studies have shown that this model is comparable to the impairment seen in humans after acute head injury.
Updated at 3:50 p.m
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