Millions of animals are confined in laboratories by pharmaceutical companies, chemical manufacturers, contract testing facilities, and certain cosmetics producers, causing immense suffering and cruelty. However, some of these entities inflict even more agony and distress than others. To identify the most egregious offenders, we evaluated the quantity of animals killed by each company, the most excruciating and intrusive experiments conducted, the extent to which they fall behind industry animal protection standards, their unwillingness to use existing non-animal testing methods, and their appalling track records of violating federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations.
Paul Kirchgraber, CEO of Labcorp Drug Development (Formerly Covance), is the most heinous executive when it comes to animal experimentation, as the company is the world’s largest breeder of dogs bred for suffering and pain in tests and the biggest importer of primates for experimental purposes in the U.S. Labcorp Drug Development is a contract testing firm that performs experiments on drugs, industrial chemicals, and cosmetic ingredients for its clients. Animals are subjected to painful tests, such as having caustic chemicals dripped into their eyes, experimental substances applied to their raw and abraded skin, ingestion or inhalation of deadly toxins, and intentionally induced cancer.
Despite some recent Labcorp Drug Development facilities shutting down or downsizing due to a lack of demand for their brutal services, the company’s widespread cruelty to animals persists. Over the years, Labcorp Drug Development has repeatedly violated federal animal protection laws. Monkeys have been kept in frigid conditions, resulting in frostbite. A rabbit was scalded to death while locked inside a cage washer. During a Covance study, one dog implanted with a chronic food-restrictive device lost 30% of its bodyweight without receiving proper medical care for the severe weight loss. A monkey had not eaten for several days because its leg was trapped in the back portion of its cage, and another monkey was kept alone in a cage for nearly eight months without explanation.
PETA’s investigation of Covance’s now-closed laboratory in Vienna, Virginia, was a shocking revelation that resulted in federal citations and fines for violating federal animal protection laws. The investigation exposed the abuse of monkeys by Covance employees, including striking, choking, and tormenting them, and sick and injured monkeys received no veterinary care. Video footage showed juvenile monkeys being forced to swallow hard plastic tubes up their nostrils and into their stomachs, causing choking, gagging, and bloody noses. The barren laboratory conditions and psychological trauma drove primates to madness, causing them to circle frantically in their cages, pull out their own hair, and chew on their flesh.
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture imposed a fine of $31,500 on Covance after 13 macaque monkeys died from hyperthermia in two separate incidents due to malfunctioning thermostats that caused the rooms to overheat.
PETA continues to expose Covance’s unethical practices and urges the company to shut down. You can help keep primates away from Covance by urging airlines that transport them to laboratories to stop participating in this violent industry.
