This week, LCA released new footage from its 2016 undercover investigation into ITR Laboratories which reveals further evidence of the facility’s grave mistreatment of its animals. This footage (watch here) reveals the life of beagles exploited in the animal research industry—documenting how dogs are housed improperly, abused gratuitously, and thrown away when their “usefulness” expires. In spite of the documented abuse, ITR remains a U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Defense approved facility. The National Institute of Health (NIH)—an agency funded by U.S. tax dollars—has provided grants for numerous cruel animal tests conducted at ITR. The NIH is notorious for funding research institutions with substandard animal welfare records, and will continue to do so until enough people demand that they stop.
From the moment animals arrive at ITR, they enter a life of unbearable cruelty and are treated as nothing more than a research tool. Denied of social interaction, animals are confined to barren metal cages and left to suffer in isolation. LCA’s investigator documented animals being thrown into cages, forcibly fed toxic substances, and hit so hard that the impact can be heard on the recording. This inexcusable cruelty is not isolated to ITR. Millions of animals are exploited in laboratories every year—their suffering carefully concealed and deceitfully rationalized by proponents of animal research
In the U.S., numerous investigations have documented similar egregious animal welfare violations at universities, contract testing facilities, and federal research institutions. Earlier this year, a whistleblower released footage showing dogs enduring horrific experimentation at an NIH-funded Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital, leading to the introduction of the bipartisan PUPPERS Act which would prohibit the VA from conducting painful and distressing research on dogs.
U.S. tax dollars continue to fund experiments that require the torture and death of animals. It is unconscionable that research institutions with documented animal welfare violations remain in good standing with governing agencies, and we urgently need your help to demand change.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- The National Institute of Health (NIH) uses American tax dollars to fund horrific animal tests worldwide. Contact the NIH at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and urge them to remove ITR from the list of Foreign Institutions with a PHS Approved Animal Welfare Assurance, so that your tax dollars will no longer be used to fund cruel tests at ITR. Please send the below email or personalize it.
To whom it may concern,
Last Chance for Animals (LCA) recently released new footage from a 2016 investigation at ITR Laboratories Canada, Ltd., a PHS-approved animal research institution. LCA’s footage reveals systematic abuse and repeated violations of provincial animal protection laws and animal testing guidelines. You can find more info on the findings at LCAnimal.org/ITR. Please look into this matter so NIH-funded experiments can no longer be conducted at a facility that has been documented abusing animals.
Sincerely,
(Your name)
- Contact your representative to request that they support the PUPPERS Act, which will prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from carrying out painful research on dogs.
- Widespread awareness is essential to create substantive change for lab animals. Please share LCA’s newly released footage to spread awareness about the plight of dogs exploited by the animal research industry.