You’re calling a federal health agency about taxpayer-funded animal experiments, but get connected to pizza ordering instead. That’s exactly what happened when a “rogue” HHS employee pranked the department’s phone line amid a flood of calls from animal welfare activists demanding cuts to controversial testing programs.
When Advocacy Meets Government Trolling
The sequence started when White Coat Waste Project urged supporters via social media to flood HHS phone lines. Their target: demanding cuts to what they claim is $126 million in new beagle experiments approved since RFK Jr. took office, plus ongoing cat testing at a NIH-funded University of Missouri lab.
Initially, HHS staff answered calls live. Then voicemail kicked in. By Tuesday, callers heard something unexpected: “Thanks for calling Domino’s Pizza!”
WCWP senior vice president Justin Goodman played the recording for Senator Joni Ernst during a committee hearing. Ernst’s reaction? “Not okay” and “stomach-turning.” Goodman didn’t mince words either: “Torturing puppies with our tax dollars isn’t funny, but people at HHS apparently think it is.”
HHS Damage Control Mode
HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon quickly distanced the department from the stunt, calling it “an unauthorized action by a rogue employee and not representative of HHS.” The line was restored, but the damage was done.
The incident handed animal welfare advocates a perfect soundbite about government priorities during a push for serious budget reforms. The prank feels particularly tone-deaf given the “Make America Healthy Again” movement’s emphasis on cutting wasteful spending.
WCWP, founded by former lab worker Anthony Bellotti, has scored genuine victories—shutting down VA dog and cat experiments, suspending FDA monkey tests, and exposing controversial research funding. Their bipartisan approach typically focuses taxpayers on the dollars, not just the ethics.
Serious Issues, Childish Response
This isn’t just bureaucratic comedy. It reveals genuine friction between aggressive advocacy tactics and federal agencies under pressure to justify every expense. When your day job involves fielding calls about animal testing budgets, maybe pizza pranks seem like stress relief.
But when taxpayers are demanding accountability for millions in research spending, juvenile responses backfire spectacularly. The incident perfectly captures the current moment—serious policy debates getting derailed by petty government behavior that hands activists exactly the narrative they want.
