RIGHT BIAS
These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports and omit reporting of information that may damage conservative causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Right Bias sources.
- Overall, we rate the White Coat Waste Project as right-biased due to its consistent focus on federal agencies under Democratic leadership and alignment with fiscally conservative causes. We also rate them factually mixed due to a lack of transparency regarding their funding and promotion of misleading claims later clarified by fact-checkers.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: RIGHT (5.8)
Factual Reporting: MIXED (5.6)
Country: USA
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Organization/Foundation
Traffic/Popularity: Minimal Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY
History
White Coat Waste Project (WCW) is a non-profit organization founded in 2013 by Republican strategist Anthony Bellotti. Based in Washington, D.C., WCW focuses on ending taxpayer-funded animal experimentation through a combination of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, public awareness campaigns, and legislative advocacy. WCW reports shutting over 100 government animal labs, claiming to have saved tens of thousands of animals.
Read our profile on the United States government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
WCW is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Anthony Bellotti, who has previously worked with Republican campaigns and continues to serve as the group’s president. According to ProPublica, the group reported $4.77 million in revenue for the fiscal year 2023, with the vast majority coming from contributions. The White Coat Waste Project does not publicly disclose its donors.
Analysis / Bias
The White Coat Waste Project (WCW) frequently uses emotionally loaded language in its headlines, such as “kitten slaughterhouse” and “terrier torture.” These phrases are often associated with real federal research programs, such as the USDA’s toxoplasmosis experiments, which were officially ended in 2019 after public and legislative pressure—but are framed in a way designed to provoke strong emotional responses.
Although WCW grounds many claims on documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, some fact-checking organizations have contested WCW’s framing of certain experiments.
A notable case involved allegations that Dr. Fauci funded abusive beagle experiments, including one in Tunisia. FactCheck.org later clarified that this particular study was not funded by NIAID, and the journal involved issued a correction. However, other experiments involving beagles were funded by NIAID, and the agency acknowledged that some of the dogs were euthanized following preclinical testing.
WCW’s advocacy is almost exclusively directed at government-funded research, with repeated focus on the NIH, USDA, and Department of Veterans Affairs, such as its call to defund a Louisiana lab where 43 monkeys escaped. Yet, there is no public record of WCW taking positions on high-profile private-sector animal testing, including ongoing controversies involving Neuralink, a company that has been investigated for its treatment of monkeys in brain implant trials. Despite widespread media attention and documented federal scrutiny of Neuralink’s animal research, WCW has remained silent on the matter. This selective focus aligns with their stated mission of targeting “taxpayer-funded” animal experiments but also reflects a narrower scope that excludes similar ethical concerns in privately funded research—indicating that the organization’s primary concern is government spending rather than broader animal welfare issues.
Failed Fact Checks
- WCW published a report claiming the federal government “wasted” more than $10 million “to create transgender mice and monkeys.” – Misleading
- Fauci, chief medical adviser to the president and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spent more than $424,000 on “beagle experiments” in which the dogs were “bitten to death by flies.” – False
Overall, we rate the White Coat Waste Project as right-biased due to its consistent focus on federal agencies under Democratic leadership and alignment with fiscally conservative causes. We also rate them factually mixed due to a lack of transparency regarding their funding and promotion of misleading claims later clarified by fact-checkers. (M. Huitsing 05/06/2025)
Source: https://www.whitecoatwaste.org/
Last Updated on May 6, 2025 by Media Bias Fact Check
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Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources