Animal Testing Behemoth Labcorp Cited for Critical Violation of Federal Law: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
May 2, 2023

Contact:
Amanda Hays 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement by PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna regarding recent U.S. Department of Agriculture citations posted against Labcorp for violations—one critical—of the federal Animal Welfare Act:

Force-feeding potentially poisonous chemicals to vulnerable dogs, monkeys, rabbits, and other animals in painful and deadly tests is business as usual for the contract killers at Labcorp, and sloppy, cruel, and dangerous practices add to the animals’ suffering. According to a just-posted federal inspection report obtained by PETA, staff failed to take any action for a monkey who had chronic diarrhea for three months. The animal had to be euthanized. It’s not clear what caused the diarrhea or whether the monkey had been tested for the numerous diarrhea-related pathogens—some transmissible to humans—prevalent in U.S. laboratories.

Another monkey’s hard metal collar was so tight that it caused sores to appear on the animal’s neck, but staff failed for weeks to remove or adjust it. In another incident, a technician was observed to be reusing syringes on multiple macaques, increasing the likelihood that dangerous pathogens could be spread throughout the population of monkeys at the facility.

In 2021, Labcorp used 18,499 rabbits, 7,588 monkeys, and 4,284 dogs in experiments and confined an additional 484 rabbits, 1,016 monkeys, and 440 dogs. These animals feel pain and value their own lives just as much as the company’s executives do—so Labcorp should commit to accelerating a move toward non-animal, human-relevant testing methods.

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