Animal Experiment Giant Quits Lawsuit, PETA Campaign to Forge Ahead

Fairfax, Va. — In the final act of its failed bid to stop PETA from publicizing video footage and other evidence of the physical and psychological torment of monkeys in its Vienna, Va., laboratory, billion-dollar Princeton, N.J.-based Covance has signed an agreement dismissing its lawsuit against PETA, which gathered evidence of cruelty inside the company’s laboratories during a recent 11-month undercover investigation. The settlement agreement means that PETA may continue to show the critical video evidence of Covance’s abuse of monkeys taken during the investigation and may cooperate with the three investigations into Covance’s abuse of monkeys currently being conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Fairfax County in response to PETA’s complaints. PETA agreed to the settlement after learning that certain workers involved in the abuse have been dismissed. Although Covance was seeking damages, attorneys’ fees, and court costs, PETA will not pay a dime to the company.

The settlement comes less than four months after a British judge—who stated that the "rough manner in which the animals [are] handled and bleakness of the surroundings in which they are kept" are matters which "cry out for explanation"—dismissed a similar Covance lawsuit against PETA Europe Limited and ordered Covance to pay court costs of £50,000 (more than $80,000) in that case. The judge called the contrast between Covance’s claim that it treats animals with "care and respect" and the reality exposed by the PETA investigation "a comparison between two different worlds."