I don’t know where to start this story as it is so big and distressing. It is yet another story of how humankind finds another way of abusing animals this time under the guise of doing something good namely providing blood to veterinary clinics. The blood comes from The Veterinarians’ Blood Bank (TVBB). A facility “tucked away off quiet Indiana roads kept hush-hush by management”.
Scroll down for PETA’s video. Read the bulleted info first please 👍🙄.
PETA has been involved in an undercover investigation about TVBB. They have a very extensive page covering the story on their website. The latest post in that article is dated April 2, 2024 and therefore this is a recent story.
As a result of the scandal, and after hearing from tens of thousands of PETA supporters, two veterinary chains have confirmed that they are no longer purchasing blood products from TVBB. These are BluePearl Pet Hospital and VCA Animal Hospitals. Earlier PetVet Care Centres dropped this blood bank as a supplier to their veterinary hospitals.
The basic problem is that TVBB keeps hundreds of cats and dogs under poor and entirely unacceptable conditions to take blood from them for 10 years when the animals were sometimes in bad health and sometimes elderly. Taking blood from them is unconscionable and for the elderly well past the age when blood banking and transfusion safety standards dictate is reasonable.
The investigation found the following (I will try and summarise the information in bullet-fashion):
- TVBB have been accused of selling tainted blood.
- PETA supporters had been protesting outside of the headquarters of both hospital chains mentioned above.
- The findings spurred the Indiana Board of Animal Health to visit TVBB.
- A separate investigation was conducted by the local Sheriff’s office, which referred its finding to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office (New York Post reporting).
- Dogs were kept in rusty kennels without proper bedding.
- Cats suffered sometimes (often?) from upper respiratory health issues (eye discharge) and serious dental disease.
- Dogs also suffered from serious dental health problems.
- Many of the animals at the facility were born and bred there and knew nothing else.
- The facility also acquired strays or from employees who answered adverts seeking homes for unwanted animals.
- There are/were 360 dogs and more than 500 cats at the facility.
- Blood is taken from the animals over and over again.
- Blood is taken every three weeks or so and it is then sold to veterinary clinics around the United States of America.
- Even those animals that were retired from giving blood were kept at the facility sometimes until the end of their days
- An example was a dog called Squiggy who was euthanised at the facility. He was 15 years of age and was still in kennels after they stopped taking blood from him. He had never known a home or a family. Hard to read about that. RIP 💕
- One worker said that cats that were too small to give blood would “just stay here until they die”.
- In the pens the cats lacked hiding places and the usual enrichment needed. The staff had added cardboard boxes and some milk crates for them with a few ping-pong balls here and there. They have to compete for resources.
- Cats and dogs were chronically bored. The dogs barked continuously and there was no relief for the cats from their mental distress.
- Conditions were stressful.
- TVBB require the animals to extract blood for their entire lives which normally amounts to about 10 years.
- They begin extracting blood when they are only six months of age.
- Sometimes TVBB seek animals from local shelters
- A manager at TVBB allegedly paid workers $200 for each cat they brought to the business. The manager was unconcerned where they got the cats from.
- Some workers acquired cats from online adverts homes for unwanted animals. When they did this, they said that the cats were going to a good home.
- TVBB is owned by veterinarian (a co-owner). The other owner is also a veterinarian.
- PETA allege that on most days no veterinarian entered the facility. There was little sign of a veterinary presence at the facility.
- PETA say that one veterinarian stayed at the facility for 30 minutes but it wasn’t clear whether he even examined animals with chronic health conditions or injuries. Many of the animals had chronic conditions or injuries.
- PETA alleges that untrained people with no veterinary experience or credentials performed teeth extractions fon dogs. One worker extracted eight blackened teeth from a dog named Foster. The dog struggled to breathe under anaesthetic without any veterinary supervision.
- Vaccines and the stitching of wounds and the anaesthetising of animals were allegedly conducted by workers with no veterinary licence.
I will leave it there. There’s more. You can click on this link for the PETA investigation webpage from with this page was drafted. I hope it helps. It is an incredibly sad and disturbing story. It does not surprise me. Humankind has a habit of abusing animals for their benefit even when the person doing the abusing is a veterinarian under oath to do no harm to animals. These two veterinarians who own TVBB are in breach of their oath.
Here is PETA’s video:
RELATED: Vet’s Oath
