High Court in India Orders Action Against Bloody Laboratory Exposed by PETA India

The fallout from the first-of-its-kind exposé of a major animal laboratory in India continues as a high court ruled in favor of PETA India, ordering a government agency to take steps against Palamur Biosciences, where dogs were found lying in pools of blood, among other horrors.

PETA India continues to call for Indian authorities to shut down the laboratory and rescue more than 1,200 animals at Palamur.

The exposé prompted a government-appointed inspection of Palamur, which confirmed PETA India’s findings. But India’s animal laboratory oversight body dragged its feet on sanctions for weeks, so PETA India sued, alleging an apparent cover-up.

The High Court of Delhi in its July 8 ruling ordered the Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA) to take interim remedial steps against Palamur, citing the objectionable findings and recommendations of the June 17 inspection report submitted to the agency, particularly regarding Palamur’s handling, housing, euthanasia practices, and veterinary care of animals. That inspection report also recommended an urgent review of the facility’s registration to breed and experiment on animals and the rehabilitation of the more than 1,200 animals it imprisons.

The court also prohibited Palamur from obtaining or caging any new animals, ordered a new inspection overseen by PETA India, and directed CCSEA to address areas of concern identified and file a new status report within two weeks. Another hearing is scheduled for August 4.

PETA has contacted the 11 U.S. institutions listed below that have collaborated on studies with or used animals from Palamur involving painful and deadly experiments, urging them to reconsider their business relationships with the company:

• The University of Texas at Austin – Austin, Texas
• Washington University School of Medicine – Saint Louis, Mo.
• University of California, Davis – Davis, Calif.
• Thomas Jefferson University – Philadelphia, Pa.
• Creighton University Medical Center – Omaha, Neb.
• Mount Sinai School of Medicine – New York City, N.Y.
• Harvard Medical School – Boston, Mass.
• Massachusetts General Hospital – Boston, Mass. 
• Moffitt Cancer Center – Tampa, Fla. 
• Onconova Therapeutics – Newtown, Pa.
• Pennington Biomedical Research Center – Baton Rouge, La.

Unprecedented Action

PETA India’s exposé included first-hand accounts, photographs, and video from inside Palamur showing widespread agony, squalor, and numerous animal welfare violations, touching off a flurry of activity in India and the U.S. in response:

• Police in India opened a criminal investigation, the first time this has happened for any animal laboratory there. 
• Government-appointed inspectors issued an explosive report recommending “immediate regulatory action…including the removal and rehabilitation of animals to prevent further pain and suffering” for the facility’s more than 1,200 animals, and a review of Palamur’s registration and breeding license.
• PETA called on the National Institutes of Health to investigate Palamur because it is a U.S. government-sanctioned laboratory and is required to comply with U.S. standards.  

Palamur’s Horrors

PETA India’s groundbreaking exposé detailed:

• Animals suffering from ulcers in their mouths or intestines.
• Staff kicking animals or closing cage doors on their legs, causing fractures.
• Some 1,500 dogs kept in a space designed for about half that number. Three to four dogs occupied cages meant for just two, leading to fights, food aggression, and painful wounds that were not kept clean. Staff did not provide pain management.
• Palamur obtained wild-caught rhesus macaques from a supplier. Some tested positive for dangerous pathogens, likely monkeypox. The company kept the matter quiet despite the health risks and killed the monkeys.
• A minipig got pregnant, and because Palamur did not have a breeding license, staff killed all the piglets without sedation by a painful injection straight into the heart.

In 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency temporarily stopped accepting studies from Palamur over concerns about the falsification of data following an inspection by the Indian National Good Laboratory Practice Compliance Monitoring Authority.    

What You Can Do

Please TAKE ACTION today and urge authorities in India to shut down Palamur Biosciences.