Each year, Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories USA (SNBL), a contract testing company in Everett, Washington, subjects tens of thousands of primates, dogs, rabbits, and other animals to painful and lethal experiments to test products for other companies. The company has also imported thousands of primates into the U.S.
Insiders at SNBL have reported abysmal conditions and abuse. A whistleblower who worked at the company for years leaked photographs and videos depicting sick and injured monkeys suffering from cruel and invasive experiments. Another whistleblower revealed that a monkey was scalded to death when her cage was put into a high-temperature, mechanical cage washer while she was still inside it.
Federal inspectors have found cruelty and neglect inside SNBL’s laboratories. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection and investigation reports have exposed hundreds of violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. In 2010, the FDA cited SNBL for failing to ensure that employees who oversee the thousands of animals at SNBL were properly trained.
These violations include SNBL’s failure to provide suffering animals with safe and adequate housing, veterinary treatment, and proper pain relief measures. During a three-week period, 20 monkeys died from “extreme weight loss” and “emaciation.” One monkey became so ill that she lost 32 percent of her body weight within 25 days of an experiment. Despite this, the monkey continued to be dosed with the test chemical. She suffered from diarrhea, had infected wounds on her body and tail, and became lethargic and dehydrated. After three terrible months, she was finally euthanized. A USDA report from 2011 documented that 78 percent of the monkeys at SNBL are caged alone, unable to interact with other monkeys, causing them to develop stress-induced abnormal behavior such as self-mutilation, incessant rocking, and hair-pulling.
In 2016, the USDA filed an administrative lawsuit against SNBL for dozens of documented violations of the AWA from 2011 to 2016. These violations led to horrific suffering and death for many animals, including monkeys who died from dehydration, trauma, and botched surgeries performed by unqualified personnel. SNBL settled the lawsuit for $185,000, but the company has continued to commit violations, such as hitting caged monkeys and returning an infant monkey to the wrong mother.
PETA urges the National Institutes of Health to pull the permit that allows SNBL to receive tax dollars in the form of federal contracts. Additionally, PETA encourages people to ask airlines that still transport primates to laboratories to stop participating in the violent industry and help keep primates away from SNBL.
