Laboratory Stops Research and Surrenders Animals Following PETA Investigation

Animal advocacy groups often go undercover in places like research labs, fur farms and slaughterhouses, and come out with horrifying videos. It's hard to watch the footage, but it can be even harder to watch the obvious cruelty continue as the evidence fights its way through the legal and political system. But this week, a PETA investigation into the abuses at a North Carolina research facility swiftly led to the laboratory shutting its doors and surrendering over 200 animals.

A PETA investigator spent nine months working in the kennels at Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc., a contract company that tested insecticides and other chemicals used in products like flea and tick treatments for companion animals. PLRS's pharmaceutical clients included Bayer, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Schering-Plough (now Merck), Sergeant's, Wellmark, and Merial (the maker of Frontline). These are the heavy hitters of veterinary medicine; most pet owners have used products made by one or more of these companies.

But the toxicity testing for those products just scratched the surface of what the dogs and cats at this lab were put through.

The investigator found not just complicity from the workers, but a sense of vicious hatred toward the animals. They screamed and cursed at the frightened animals. Workers were seen manhandling cats and blasting the dogs with pressure hoses, bleach and soap to "clean" the runs with the animals still in them. But the kennels never really got clean and many dogs had open sores from living on wet concrete and in their own waste.

There was no vet on staff, so the workers often "treated" the animals on their own. In one case, an anesthetic past its expiration date was given to a dog for a tooth extraction, and when the dog showed signs of being in pain, the procedure went ahead anyway. In a toxicity experiment, cats had immediate, violent reactions to the chemicals applied to their necks, but the test wasn't stopped — later that day, they got a second dose.

There's more (and a video, if you want to watch it) on PETA's website. But I think you get the drift.

PETA released the results of their investigation and filed a complaint with the USDA. Just one week later, PLRS caved; they will no longer conduct research and they are surrendering all of their animals. But that doesn't mean they're off the hook — the USDA has launched a formal investigation and PETA has turned their evidence over to a local prosecutor.

Marc Bekoff, who was an advisor on the campaign, is extremely pleased to see that this reprehensible abuse is being dealt with rapidly and at the highest levels. "These sentient beings should never be treated the way they have," he says. "I bet no one would send their companion dog to this facility."

The nearly 200 dogs and dozens of cats that were kept by PLRS aren't any different than the animals we share our homes with, but, as PETA described, "they live day in, day out without exercise or enrichment, companionship, a scratch behind the ears, or even a kind word from the only people they ever see."

Not anymore. Officials are working on placing the animals in homes. The case against PLRS has just begun, and this is just one lab among many that conducts cruel tests, but for these dogs and cats, that chapter is over and now they get the chance to live the life they deserve.

Photo credit: PETA