Charles River Laboratories CEO James C. Foster profits from the misery and suffering of millions of animals bred and sold for cruel and invasive experiments. As the world’s largest breeder of animals for use in experiments, Charles River supplies one of every two animals used in experimentation, contributing to the pain, misery, fear, and distress endured by animals in laboratories. The company is the second-largest importer of nonhuman primates into the U.S., importing thousands of monkeys stolen from the wild or bred in poor factory farms.
Charles River also conducts painful tests on animals for companies that produce industrial chemicals, pesticides, food additives, and pharmaceuticals. The animals are force-fed test compounds, smeared with experimental chemicals, and forced to inhale toxic substances, experiencing severe pain, diarrhea, convulsions, seizures, and bleeding before ultimately dying.
Charles River has been cited for violations of federal animal-protection law, including inadequate veterinary care, failure to provide pain relief, inadequate housing, and failure to investigate non-animal alternatives. At the company’s Nevada facility, 32 monkeys were baked alive when a thermostat malfunctioned, and a monkey was scalded to death in a cage washer.
PETA has called on Charles River Laboratories to improve its treatment of animals, but the company prioritizes profits over progress and compassion. It has admitted that alternatives to animal testing are a “risk” to its business.
To help prevent primates from being used in experiments by Charles River Laboratories, ask airlines that transport them to stop participating in the violent industry.
