First Felony Case Win Against Lab Workers

Undercover Investigation by PeTa Leads to Landmark Victory

Click to watch PETA’s undercover video footage.

I’d like to share some exciting and historic news about a victory for animals in laboratories!

In a landmark move and in the wake of PETA’s shocking undercover investigation of Professional Laboratory and Research Services (PLRS), a North Carolina grand jury has indicted four individuals who worked at PLRS-including a supervisor-on 14 felony charges of cruelty-to-animals. This case marks the first time in U.S. history that laboratory workers have faced felony cruelty charges for their abuse and neglect of animals in a laboratory.

The case also marks the second criminal prosecution of cruelty to animals used in experimentation; the first prosecution stemmed from PETA’s very first undercover investigation, the groundbreaking 1981 Silver Spring Monkeys case.

The defendants in the PLRS case are among those caught on video kicking, throwing, and dragging dogs; hoisting rabbits by their ears and puppies by their throats; violently slamming cats into cages; and screaming obscenities at terrified animals. One of the defendants is the worker seen on video trying to rip out a cat’s claws by violently pulling the cat from the fence onto which the animal clung in fear.

The felony indictments follow extensive citations by federal officials for multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act, the laboratory’s closure, and the surrender of nearly 250 dogs and cats just a week after PETA released its findings last fall.

This monumental victory would not have been possible without your e-mails, letters, phone calls, and support of PETA.

Although PETA is pleased to have your help in winning this historic victory for animals in laboratories, there is still more that you can do!

Please take another step to help animals who are suffering. Tell the National Science Foundation to stop funding barbaric experiments at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in which violent fights are staged between animals.

Thank you for everything that you do for animals!

Sincerely,

Kathy Guillermo
Vice President
Laboratory Investigations Department
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals