Be a Hero to Animals in Labs

If you work in a laboratory that uses animals—or if you sweep the floors, empty the trash, or find yourself in a laboratory for some other reason—you may learn about negligence, mistreatment, or preventable accidents that harm animals.

By reporting your concerns to PETA, you allow us to file the appropriate complaints so that institutional and government oversight bodies can investigate, correct problems, and reprimand anyone involved in serious neglect or abuse. We are always happy to keep whistleblowers’ identities completely confidential.

Whistleblowers: Champions for Animals
Whistleblowers have been instrumental in revealing neglect, carelessness, and mistreatment at scores of laboratories. The following are just a few examples:

• Whistleblowers at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Nebraska told PETA that experimenters starved cats for months, implanted tubes and wires in their throats, cemented metal devices onto their skulls, and cut open kittens’ heads to sever the nerves in their brains—supposedly to learn about deafness. PETA went undercover in the lab and found that the surgeries were often botched and that kittens were denied veterinary care and painkillers. When PETA complained to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and released the information to the public, the experiments were stopped.
• Three nursing students at Wright State University in Ohio called PETA to let us know that dogs and rabbits were suffering in scabies experiments. Scabies is an easily treatable skin ailment. The whistleblowers reported that one dog howled in agony as she died, strapped into a restraint device. PETA’s investigation prompted the USDA to fine Wright State $50,000. The scabies experiments on dogs were stopped, and the veterinarian conducting the experiments was fired.
• A former employee at the Buckshire Corporation, a Pennsylvania supplier of animals to laboratories, wrote to PETA to notify us that cats, dogs, and chimpanzees were warehoused and denied veterinary care. A PETA undercover investigator found 42 chimpanzees cramped in undersized cages in a windowless basement—which Buckshire called a "retirement" facility—and cats with serious upper respiratory diseases. PETA turned over documentation to the USDA, which fined Buckshire $25,000 and closed its chimpanzee basement forever.
• Veterinarian Catherine Dell’Orto blew the whistle on painful and invasive experiments on primates at Columbia University, where animals were denied veterinary care and painkillers and were housed in tiny concrete and steel cells. Dell’Orto complained to her supervisors at the university, and when they refused to act, she called PETA. As a result of PETA’s investigation into Columbia’s labs, the USDA cited and fined the university. The university also fired the head veterinarian of a study in which strokes were induced in baboons by cutting out one of their eyes and inserting a clamp to stop blood flow in major arteries leading to the brain.
• When a neurosurgeon learned that a physician at the Cleveland Clinic was going to kill a dog in a sales demonstration of a device made by the Micrus company, he immediately called PETA. We called and faxed the Cleveland Clinic and Micrus, demanding that the demonstration be stopped and telling them that a non-animal simulation could be used instead. The physician went ahead with the demonstration, allowing Micrus salespeople to experiment on the healthy dog, who was killed following the demonstration. Because of our efforts, the USDA cited the Cleveland Clinic for two violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), and the physician was prohibited from working with animals for two years.

What You Can Do
Whistleblowers brought all these incidents—and many more—to light. You may be in a position to bring about similar positive changes. Your observations could be the key to helping animals who are not receiving proper care.

The AWA does not prohibit any experiment, no matter how cruel; however, it does require some basic welfare considerations for animals. Please contact PETA if you see any of the following:

• Animals who are being abused (or who appear to have been abused)
• Sick or injured animals who are not receiving veterinary care
• Animals who show signs of stress (e.g., pacing in their cages or self-mutilating)
• Animals who are given insufficient pain relief during painful procedures or inadequate post-trauma or post-surgical pain relief
• Animals who are caged in a manner that causes aggression and attacks on one another
• Animals in filthy or dangerous cages (e.g., cages with broken wires, etc.)
• Animals without sufficient food or water
• Animals who are killed in painful ways (e.g., mice who have their heads cut off with scissors, live animals who are placed in freezers, etc.)
• Primates who are given insufficiently varied diets or kept in barren cages
• Animals who are identified in cruel ways (e.g., by amputation of their toes)

Please err on the side of caution by reporting anything that you think may be a violation of the AWA or of National Institutes of Health policy (if the lab is government-funded), and PETA will look into it.

Try to document your concerns with photographs or on video. You can report your concerns anonymously to PETA by using the form below, by e-mailing Whistleblower@peta.org, or by calling 757-962-8383.

We guarantee confidentiality, whether you choose to provide contact information or not. However, we encourage you to let us know how we can follow up with you in case we need to clarify details.

If violations of the AWA; the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; or other laws are reported, we will file complaints with the appropriate agencies. Your identity will not be revealed without your consent.

Thank you for speaking up for animals!

Whistleblowers: Report Concerns Here
You can report your concerns anonymously by filling out the form below, by e-mailing us at Whistleblower@peta.org, or by calling us at 757-962-8383.

All fields are optional. Please provide as much information as you can, but if you don’t know the answer, please leave that field blank.

Having trouble with this form? You can also leave a detailed message on our hotline at 757-962-8383 or e-mail us at Whistleblower@peta.org with the details.