'Dr. Oz Is a Puppy Killer': Fetterman Campaign Responds to Reporting on Animal Testing

Hours after pointing to extensive evidence that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz has misled millions of people about dangerous and ineffective so-called "miracle" cures and supplements, Democratic candidate John Fetterman's campaign on Monday urged Pennsylvania voters to consider another factor in Oz's pre-politics career: His time leading scientific research that led to the deaths of more than 300 dogs and hundreds of other animals.

"What kind of person, let alone doctor, would do something like this? The same person who made his career and fortune off of peddling fake--and sometimes harmful--miracle pills."

"We know what the stakes are in this election," tweeted Fetterman's wife, activist Gisele Barreto Fetterman. "Add one more: PUPPIES. Puppies are on the line."

Jezebel on Monday reported that its review of 75 studies published by Oz between 1989 and 2010, when he was principal investigator at the Columbia University Institute of Comparative Medicine, revealed that 329 dogs died as a result of 34 of his experiments.

More than 660 rabbits and rodents and more than 30 pigs were also killed as a result of dozens of the cardiothoracic surgeon and TV host's experiments.

Methods used by the lab--where Oz took "full scientific, administrative, and fiscal responsibility for the conduct" of the studies he led--violated the Animal Welfare Act, according to testimony given in 2005 by Catherine Dell'Orto, a veterinarian who worked there.

According to Dell'Orto, dogs who were experiencing painful medical conditions including vomiting, paralysis, and kidney failure were kept alive for days and even weeks so Oz's team could experiment on them. The Republican candidate also led an experiment in which the team injected expired drugs into the hearts of a litter of puppies without using sedation, killing them.

"Upon being killed, the puppies were allegedly left in a garbage bag with living puppies who were their littermates," reported Jezebel.

According to the website, "Columbia declined to comment" on the report, "and Oz's campaign has yet to respond" to a request for comment.

After the report was published, Fetterman tweeted a succinct message: "Dr. Oz is a puppy killer."

"This is a truly heartbreaking report," said Barreto Fetterman. "What kind of person, let alone doctor, would do something like this? The same person who made his career and fortune off of peddling fake--and sometimes harmful--miracle pills. The same person who knowingly pushed dangerous diets to his audience."

"This is who Dr. Oz is: unconscionable and a danger to others," she added.