House Rep. Eli Crane says therapy dogs should be mandatory at hearings after joke about Dems’ mental stability

A House lawmaker Thursday jokingly suggested making therapy dogs a permanent fixture in committee hearings after voicing his concern about the “mental stability” of Democrats a day earlier. 

On Wednesday, as Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform discussed wasteful government spending, Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., asked about bringing in therapy dogs for his Democratic colleagues amid back-and-forth sparring between both sides. 

Crane asked committee Chair James Comer, R-Tenn., about bringing in the animals. 

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Rep. Eli Crane at a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on Thursday, where he mentioned three beagles in the chamber.  (House Committee on Oversight and Reform)

“I’m worried about their mental stability,” said Crane. 

On Thursday, the committee met to discuss taxpayer money funding “gender-affirming care” for animals. The hearing, “Transgender Lab Rats and Poisoned Puppies: Oversight of Taxpayer Funded Animal Cruelty,” featured a witness from the White Coat Waste Project. 

In attendance were three beagles that were allegedly part of experiments conducted on the watch of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

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A beagle sitting on the floor during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing Thursday.  (House Committee on Oversight and Reform)

“It was just yesterday in an Oversight hearing that I asked Chairman Comer if we could get some therapy dogs up here because of some of the meltdowns that were going on,” Crane said. “I had no idea I’d walk into this hearing today and see three beautiful beagle puppies.

“And I have noticed that my mood has already improved. So, thank you guys for bringing them,” he added. “I think we should make it mandatory.”

At Thursday’s hearing, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., laid out how public funds were being used for animal experiments. 

“Last year, the White Coat Waste Project exposed more than $10 million in taxpayer funds that were spent creating transgender mice, rats and monkeys,” Mace said. “These DEI grants funded painful and deadly transgender experiments that forced lab animals to undergo invasive surgeries and hormone therapies at universities across the country.”

A pair of beagles at a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on Thursday. (House Committee on Oversight and Reform)

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Before yielding to ranking member Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, Mace said wasteful government spending on animal cruelty is a “nonpartisan issue.”

“The U.S. government spends in excess of $20 billion a year conducting experiments on animals,” Mace said. “We spent over $1 million to find out if female rats receiving testosterone therapy were more likely to overdose on a date rape drug. That’s what your taxpayer dollars were being spent on.”

Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.