Peta Investigation Shuts Down Skeezy NC Lab That Abused Cats and Dogs

Clementine Was Experimented on for 7 Years

Whatever you may think of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, here’s a case where they’ve done something awesome. Their undercover video investigation of a creepy NC lab just sprung 200 dogs and a bunch of cats from their cages and shortened life full of abuse. A week after Peta released its unwatchably gruesome  video, the lab, Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc., of Corapeake, NC, shut down, the AP reports.  Now Peta says 200 dogs and dozens of cats are going to be adopted.

Peta had someone go undercover at the lab and film how the animals were literally thrown around. I could only make it throw about a minute of a woman trying to get a cat to grab a fence so she could pull the cat’s nails off, slamming a door on another animal, swearing at and kicking back beagles. The abuse that I saw wasn’t to any scientific purpose; it was just a couple of despicable, unsupervised young female crackers abusing animals because it made their jobs easier. The investigator said that a vet was only there once a week and that they didn’t bother him with things like heartworm or open sores.

Peta says the lab worked “for huge pharmaceutical companies to test insecticides and other chemicals used in companion animal products. Bayer, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Schering-Plough (now Merck), Sergeant’s, Wellmark, and Merial, the maker of Frontline flea and tick products, are some of the corporations that have paid PLRS to force-feed experimental compounds to dogs and cats and smear chemicals onto the animals’ skin.”

FDA documents from 2006 and 2007 show that Larry Cruthers, PhD ran experiments at the lab using “mongrels” and “purebred beagles,” sometimes just puppies. Beagles are often used in lab work because they are so sweet and docile. Pissed off animal lovers have already started tracking down Cruthers and the woman who owned the lab. He’s an active, respected member of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists. He just gave a talk on fleas at their annual meeting.

The FDA documents show that most dogs didn’t last long at the lab. In one experiment testing how well imidacloprid and moxidectin worked on hookworm, Cruthers took 32 two to three month old beagle and hound puppies, infected them, then euthanized them seven to 11 days later to count the worms. But Peta did document the horrible life of Clementine, a senior dalmatian that the lab had been experimenting on for seven years:

the floor’s poor drainage forces her to spend most of her days standing in her own urine and/or a bleach and water solution. Workers spray a caustic bleach solution into the cage while she is still inside it. Raw, open sores cover her limbs. Excrement is caked on her body.

When PETA’s investigator reported Clementine’s injuries, she was told that they were “just part of life at PLRS” and that she should not tell the veterinarian who visits PLRS once a week or so about them. According to a PLRS supervisor, Clementine was diagnosed with heartworm disease in 2005 but has never been treated.

PETA’s investigator visited Clementine when time permitted and, over a period of months, saw Clementine’s physical and psychological health decline. Clementine appeared to be depressed and cried when the investigator left her. The investigator’s requests to adopt Clementine were denied.

A blogger called Abernacky says that Animal Welfare Institute is handling the dog and cat adoptions and suggested writing to cathy@awionline.org if you are local and can take some animals. Since it’s been about a year since my dog Jolly died, I wrote them. Cathy says that New Jersey’s Associated Humane Society is taking 35 of the dogs. They’re the ones that run Popcorn Park Zoo near Atlantic City that takes care of abandoned or confiscated exotic pets.

Where to Go to See Silly Dog Events

Watch the Creepy Peta Video

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