Dr. Oz Called ‘Puppy Killer’ Over Experiments That Resulted In 300 Dead Dogs

Republican Senate candidate in Pennsylvania Dr. Mehmet Oz is under fire after a report revealed he was involved in scientific experiments that killed hundreds of dogs. His Democratic opponent, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, has called Oz a “puppy killer” on social media.

Between 1989 and 2010, Oz and his teams of researchers at Columbia University conducted experiments with 1,027 live animals. Over 300 dogs died during this period, a review of 75 academic papers by Jezebel showed last week.

Oz was a “principal investigator” at the Columbia University Institute of Comparative Medicine labs for years and assumed “full scientific, administrative, and fiscal responsibility for the conduct” of his studies.

According to whistleblower and veterinarian Catherine Dell’Orto, Oz’s research imposed extensive suffering on animals, including violations of the Animal Welfare Act. She said that one of the experiments resulted in one entire litter of puppies being killed.

“When your name is on the experiment, and the way the experiment is designed inflicts such cruelty to these animals, by design, there’s a problem,” Dell’Orto said.

On social media, Fetterman posted at least three times about the case, calling his opponent “puppy killer” and “puppy murderer.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Dr. Oz denied he was directly involved in the experiments.

“Dr. Oz was not personally involved in these incidents and to say otherwise is a lie. His name was on some forms due to his role within the Department of Surgery,” the spokesperson said.