by Elisa Black-Taylor
(USA)
Clementine has been there 7 years
There are very few companies I've ever seen that moved me to the point of HATE, but Professional Laboratory and Research Services (PLRS) in Corapeake, North Carolina is one. I'm sure my readers will agree with me after reading this article.
I don't normally attack an individual shelter or company. I feel local action is better for correcting abuse. But I had to get involved in this PETA investigation because this place needs to be shut down!
PLRS is located in a rural area in N.C. and it tests products used on companion animals. These include insecticides and flea and tick products. Many animals are force fed the chemicals to test for toxicity or have caustic compounds spread on their skin. The test animals have suffered severe burns from the compounds. This test is done on rabbits, dogs and cats.
Bayer, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Schering-Plough (now Merck), Sergeant's, Wellmark, and Merial, the maker of Frontline flea are some of the companies involved in the testing1.
This abuse recently made the news after a PETA investigator worked undercover for nine months in the plant. If you're infuriated already, read my next paragraph.
The workers there HATE animals and according to evidence gathered by the investigator, they enjoy torturing them. They not only yell at them, they drag dogs too frightened to walk and also hose down both dogs and cats with bleach and other harsh chemicals.
Here's a video the undercover PETA investigator made inside Professional Lab and Research Services. I'll warn you its horrible. The only reason I'm including it here is it is evidence the abuse does take place here. WATCH IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. BAD LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE!
As soon as the worker shown grabbed a cat and shoved it into a chain link fence I had to turn it off.
Here are some of the "tests" conducted.
*Dogs are used in experiments to test worm medication, but because of the filthy conditions, many of the dogs not being tested became infested.
*Rabbits were held over thousand of mosquitoes who were allowed to feed off of their shaved backs for 15 minutes a day up to 5 days per week.
*Rabbit cages were cleaned by shaking them upside down with the rabbits still inside.
* Dogs were deliberately infested with worms for months at a time, even though this wasn't required to test the product.
* A dog was injected with out of date anesthetic and a tooth pulled even though the dog was in agony and crying.
*A cat was thrown into a fence several times and pulled off the fence in hopes of pulling out the claws.
*The PETA investigator was warned not to report animal injuries to the veterinarian. These included bloody sores, bloody diarrhea, skin conditions, worm infestations, oozing sores, abscessed teeth, and pus and blood-filled infections on ears went untreated or were ineffectively handled by workers who had no veterinary training or credentials2.
These dogs are dogs just like your pets. Except they are kept for years in cages with no love and no humane treatment whatsoever. Most are terrified at the mere sight of a human. They pace constantly and many go insane.
Most of the products tested on these dogs, cats and rabbits are available at your grocery store. Please check into the companies I listed at the beginning of this article and DO NOT support them. Let them know what is happening at this research facility and beg them to stop using this company as a testing ground. Because they're not testing-they're TORTURING!
These employees can't be human. It seems they inflict verbal and physical abuse on the animals for the fun of it. And get PAID for it! That's always the part that burns me up!
One product was tested on 57 cats. These cats suffered seizures, foamed at the mouth, lost vision and bled from their noses. Yet we can go into our local stores and buy this product for our cats. Something is very wrong with this picture.
PLRS recently murdered 100 cats, dogs and rabbits because they felt providing food for them was too expensive.
A veterinarian comes in for a few hours a week. Not nearly long enough to care for all of the sick and abused animals there.
When PLRS knew an inspection was coming up from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), they cleaned up the testing facility. The USDA had given them a warning the previous year about the poor condition the 400+ animals were in. The visit this year lasted just over 2 hours.
PETA has filed complaints with state and federal agencies and also with law enforcement. Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OSHA) has also been notified of the violations.
PETA needs everyone's help in getting the word out about this research lab. Animal lovers need to band together and get this place closed down. Here's the petition to stop the torture.
There's also a petition to free Clementine, who has been there for 7 years. Her story can be found on this page.
I'd like to commend the PETA worker who had to endure watching this abuse until enough evidence was gathered against PLRS. It had to be a horrible experience. Personally, I'd have hurt someone. Hopefully this evidence will be enough to shut this place down permanently.
This investigator kept a notebook of the cruelty going on at the lab. It can be found here.
I've heard it said that animals sit at heaven's gate and approve who can enter and who can't. In this case I hope it's true. These people are monsters. I hope they get what's coming to them.
Elisa
Notes - sources:
1. http://www.peta.org/FeaturePLRS.asp
2. http://www.peta.org/FeaturePLRS-Document.asp
http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/nc/res-fr-nc-plr.html
Professional Laboratory and Research Services in N.C. must be closed