Very ill dogs left to suffer and die alone in pens after being poisoned, monkeys wrenched from their cages and restrained in cruel devices, unnecessary rough handling of animals, and no overnight care. Shocking undercover video footage from SOKO Tierschutz and Cruelty Free International reveal the horrible life of animals in the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT) in Germamy.
LPT is a family-owned laboratory near Hamburg carrying out toxicity testing for companies from all over the world. Testing means poisoning animals to see how much of a chemical or drug it takes to cause serious harm, in an attempt to measure what a ‘safe’ dose for humans might be.
Animals are injected with, made to eat, or forced to inhale increasing amounts of a chemical to measure the toxic effects. The effects include vomiting, internal bleeding, respiratory distress, fever, weight loss, lethargy, skin problems, organ failure and death. The animals have to endure this without anesthetics or pain relief.
The animals are routinely abused if they do not want to cooperate. The arms and legs of the monkeys are stuck in fixation chairs so that they cannot resist. Screaming in fear and pain, with absolutely no one coming to help them. They’re helpless against ‘bigger and stronger’ humans.
Jen Hochmuth from animal welfare organization Animal Rights in the Netherlands responds to the video: “Beagles are left behind on a cold and hard floor after a toxicity test in blood-stained pens. The next day the corpses are hung on hooks like in a slaughterhouse. These terrible images show that the fear, pain and stress of innocent animals are never taken into account. Monkeys, dogs and cats are minimized into disposable products.”
Michelle Thew, chief executive of Cruelty Free International stated: “Our investigation has uncovered appalling animal suffering, inadequate care, poor practices and breaches of European and German law. We are calling for the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology to be closed.”
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