The Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general confirmed Monday it’s opening an investigation into botched dog surgeries at the Holmes Hunter McGuire VA medical center.

A program analyst told the White Coat Waste Project, a group advocating against wasteful experimentation on animals, that the IG has opened a case based on allegations of incompetent surgeries on dogs and lack of transparency about such practices, according to an email obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

In early April, Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan, who chairs the House Animal Protection Caucus, sent a letter to VA inspector general Michael Missal urging an investigation, after news broke about abysmal practices at the McGuire VA medical center.

“These disturbing and controversial experiments on dogs include everything from inducing heart attacks to invasive brain-damaging surgeries, which can leave the animals severely maimed or dead,” Buchanan wrote.

“I also am concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding these experiments,” he added. “Information about the results of these experiments isn’t readily available to the public, according to press reports, and anything done with taxpayer dollars should be done with full disclosure to the public.”

Internal reports obtained by the White Coat Waste Project indicated that the McGuire medical center allowed experimental and invasive surgeries on dogs to continue, despite numerous botched attempts. In particular, the reports showed that the prime offender involved in the failed surgeries is still active at the VA, despite being banned from various surgeries on dogs and taken off a dog experimentation project.

8News subsequently reported that not only is Tan still active at the VA, but he’s still treating and performing surgeries on veterans.

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