Brave employees continue coming forward to report what’s really happening inside U.S. animal research laboratories, and their attestations make clear that animal researchers’ actions do not match their words. 

Here are just a handful of newly-documented examples reported by insiders:

ALTASCIENCES and its subsidiary VALLEY BIOSYSTEMS
📍 Everett, Washington and West Sacramento, California (respectively)

• What They Say: 
  • • “We maintain an unwavering focus on the welfare of the laboratory animals in our care.”
    • “Our methodologies, procedures and equipment are refined to decrease stress on the animals, improve workflows, and ensure the success of your study.”
• What They Do: 
  • Suffocate animals until they pass out.
    • “On July 9th, [an employee] asphyxiated a monkey until it passed out. Apparently she was trying to see an incision and squeezed the monkey up to see it better. It was reported to a vet on staff as a possible seizure but it was found out to be asphyxiation because the monkey’s collar was trapped in the cage which suffocated the animal until it lost consciousness.”

• • Leave animals to die in their cages, then hide their deaths.
    • “‘Found Dead’ is becoming normal on studies. 2344.02 study NHPs went down some [sic] found dead (SSAN 4001), some euthanized. PRF form closed to avoid sharing active protocols during annual inspections . . . Study already ran 2344.08 rats, multiple deaths. Test article was already known to be toxic and was still ran in monkeys.”

• • Lock them in unsafe cages that hurt their hands, feets, and tails.
    • “Animals are being injured from cages requiring intervention from the veterinarians. Tail injuries are common but they also have finger and toe amputations from unknown parts of the cage. The VSR system is too hard to navigate, makes it harder to track that something happened, so then the facility says it’s a one off.
    • Animal ID 6846953350 partially severed finger
    • Animal ID 3945 finger injury
    • Animal ID V003550 foot injury from caging required stitches and amputation
    • Animal ID 7013723373, animal DX405 tail injuries”

• • Deny suffering animals veterinary care and ignore their deaths.
    • “The veterinary staff continues to be inadequate . . . We couldnt reach the AV when animals were seizuring.” 
    • “Then we had to control animal dying and it was reported multiple times to vet staff, the vet said it was fine until the study director came in and looked at the animal and requested euthanasia. The animal had meningitis but no testing was done to make sure other animals werent infected.”
    • “2 Capsida study monkeys died. The Vet tech manager . . . and the Attending Vet . . . were both called repeatedly. Nobody answered the vet tech or vet on call phones. When [the Attending Vet] finally answered a call, he said he would be there in 5 minutes but took over 45 minutes to arrive. The animals were seizuring and dying in front of the staff without any veterinary support.”
    • “Monkeys keep dying . . . from test article [sic] and the turnover from the vet team makes the care of them inadequate.”

• • Silence whistleblowers to protect animal abusers.
    • “The SOP says that it must be a repeated issue to be considered an animal welfare issue. When staff report concerns to their supervisors about continuous issues, they become targeted by management until they stop reporting concerns.”

ENVIGO RMS LLC
📍 Indianapolis, Indiana

• What They Say:
  • We “[a]ctively foster[] a culture of care (towards the animals used and bred . . . at all levels of the company.”
  • “We “[c]omply with all national and local regulations as a minimum standard with regard to the care and use of animals….”
  • We “[a]chiev[e] the highest standards of animal welfare that are compatible with attaining the scientific objectives of the studies conducted and breeding performed.”
  • “There will be a sustained investment programme and maintenance schedule to ensure animal facilities . . . meet national guidelines, codes of practice and operating criteria.”
• What They Do:
  • Cook animals to death in their cages.
    • “The air for our company was shut off Friday afternoon, and the company did not provide adequate alarm systems for this. As a result, the tempature [sic] within the laboratory got so high that the animals died of heat exhaustion. The CO2 alarms were going for an unknown amount of time. Thousands of animals are deceased. There is currently a cleanup crew cleaning up animals that have been tore into shreds by others, there are blood and guts of animals with guts hanging out, babies left without mother’s for hours, etc . . . These animals suffered in such extreme ways.”
    • “ . . . after witnessing them do this in the Virginia facility with beagles, I can see how they are continuing the extreme lack of care for animal welfare.” 

JOINN LABORATORIES
📍 Richmond, California

• What They Say: 
  • “We treat our animals humanely and with respect. We follow a Code of Respect….”
  • “We minimize animal discomfort.”
  • “At JOINN, animal welfare means . . .  that the animals are provided with the best husbandry available to experience a stress-free life and good health.”
  • “We train JOINN employees who handle animals to utilize the best techniques and procedures….”
  • “If we learn that any of our employees have failed to follow the Code of Respect, we will take appropriate remedial and disciplinary actions.”
• What They Do: 
  • Mishandle and mistreat animals.
    • “The way cynomolgus monkeys are being mishandled and mistreated . . . is extremely neglectful and abusive.”
    • “Because the higher management is adamant that the animals are to be used completely awake and unsedated for all drug infusion studies, the emphasis is placed solely on forcing the monkeys into chairs as quickly as possible and with no concern for their physical or mental welfare in the process.”
    • “ . . . monkeys are regularly moved into more advanced stages of acclimation training when they have clearly not passed the most basic stages successfully.”
    • “The monkeys often resist and display clear signs of discomfort and distress throughout the training sessions but are forced to continue so technicians can check off their boxes for the day.”

• • Ignore and hide animal harms caused by staff, including by firing whistleblowers.
    • “All injuries are treated with ‘bandaids’ and the root of the cause for these repetitive, recurring injuries is never reported or investigated.”
    • “I am writing to inform you of significant violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) that led to unnecessary suffering and the loss of a USDA-regulated animal . . . As the clinical veterinarian at the time, I responded to an emergency involving a baboon (USDA #B009318) that had received a kidney transplant from a pig (xenotransplant). The incident began when staff attempted to sedate the baboon. Upon my examination, I determined that the animal had suffered cardiac and/or respiratory arrest, as there were no signs of breathing or circulation upon auscultation . . . the animal was pronounced dead. The medical record and necropsy report indicated that an overdose was the likely cause of death. Discussions with the two employees involved revealed that the baboon had been given a toxic dose of propofol (15-18 ml, 150-180 mg) compared to the recommended dose of 2.5mg/kg to 5mg/kg. Following this incident, I intended to investigate and understand how this situation occurred and to implement preventive measures. However, my efforts were obstructed by the company, specifically the Managing Director, who instructed me to disengage from the incident. Nevertheless, I submitted a detailed report via email to the attending veterinarian, outlining the situation and recommending preventive measures. Unfortunately, I received no acknowledgement or response. A few days after the incident . . . I was terminated without explanation.”

LOVELACE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
📍 Albuquerque, New Mexico

• What They Say:
  • “Lovelace Biomedical is devoted to the humane and ethical treatment of all animals involved in research.”

• What They Do: 
  • Ignore staff errors that endanger animals.
    • “Multiple incidents of misdosing animals because of lack of care and handling.”
    • “Rabbits allowed to kick and potentially hurt their backs.”

• • Ignore and hide harms caused the animals by staff.
    • “Lack of training new staff resulting in multiple releases of monkeys from primary caging and only a few staff members (3) are trained to catch. Resulted in euthanasia of animal last year. None of these incidents are recorded to prevent citations. Staff members that aren’t trained in pole collar moving monkeys for cage changes.”
    • “Members of staff reporting animal welfare incidents and no corrective action, plus animal welfare person is paid to ignore issues to quickly allow IACUC passing studies to start.”

TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY
📍 Stephenville, Texas

• What They Say:
  • “TSU is dedicated to ensuring the animals used for Teaching and Research get the best possible care….”

• What They Do:
  • Allow staff to suffocate animals to death in deep freezers.
    •  “[The person who oversees the research department]’s process for tissue collection in swine is to lock them in a deep freezer and begin administering carbon dioxide until they suffocate. Many of the students here on campus have direct knowledge of hiding the CO2 tanks freezers etc during inspections. Dozens of animals in the past year have been subject to this manner of euthanizing.”

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SCHOOL
📍 Worcester, Massachusetts

• What They Say:
  • “ . . . the compliance with regulations related to the involvement of animals in research . . . has always been the foundation of research conducted at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.”

• What They Do:
  • Force staff to watch animals suffer and die without care.
    • “I am a vet tech in a research facility” who “received a report about an unwell pig. The pig was part of the Donahue lab where they do heart studies. The pig was lateral, and squealed when it would stand. I tried over and over to contact the lab about pain meds and fluids, only to have them stop by 6 hours later and tell me the pig looked fine. They also said they had performed surgery on it the day prior . . . and had not made any notes in the animals record or written in any documents. I explained to them they HAVE to keep records and treat this pig or euthanize, as it had already met some protocol end points. They told me they would give it meloxicam and turn down the rate of the pacemaker, but again, nothing was written down. This continued over the next week . . . That brings us to yesterday, when we received another report that the pig was moribund. We could not easily contact the lab, and the vet did nothing but fight us over euthanizing the animal. The pigs’ [sic] legs were purple and the pig was not moving, only squealing every now and then and shaking. An animal care tech was with the pig the whole time, trying to get a hold of anyone who could do anything. Eventually we got a hold of the PI, Donahue, who was not concerned and said that since it wasn’t an issue with the heart (which it clearly seemed to be) that he was not responsible to treat. Our vet . . . did nothing except suggest a 0.01mg/kg dose of buprenorphine IM, which is less than we give mice for pain. We gave it anyway and begged anyone to allow us to euthanize this pig. No one did, and sadly the pig passed away on its own. A necropsy revealed it had gone septic. But this is how this lab operates, and how much this lab and vet do not care about these pigs . . . PLEASE do something, these animals are continuing to suffer, and the staff that care about them are fighting a losing battle.”

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI MEDICAL SCHOOL
📍 Miami, Florida

• What They Say: 
  • “We . . . provide [animals] with outstanding care.”
  • “The personnel who provide our animal care consider it a privilege to work with animals, and demonstrate this commitment daily by treating them with the utmost care and respect.”
  • “The humane care and use of animals is of paramount importance to the University of Miami.”

• What They Do: 
  • Fail to provide animals with adequate care, from basic to veterinary. 
    • “I would like to report animal welfare concerns . . . Some of those are inappropriate veterinary care, such as absence of [a] veterinarian during an emergency in pigs requiring attention . . . The piglets [did] not receive appropriate husbandry conditions, veterinarians didn’t come to evaluate them, and or not appropriate treatment or feeding practices.”
    • “Across the facilities there are neglect of husbandry procedures, such as feeding, watering, cleaning, and identification.”
    • Monkeys “are showing signs of psychological distress such as pacing…”

• • Fail to train staff, and retaliate against them.
    • “There are instances of retaliation, lack of training….”

HENRY FORD HOSPITAL
📍 Detroit, Michigan

• What They Do:
  • “Dogs wallowing in their feces. Too many dogs [in] some of the rooms.”

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