What have we learned from all the suffering of animals in laboratories? That animal experimentation is cruel, unethical, wasteful and unreliable.
Research beagle at ITR Laboratories Canada in Montreal, Quebec
April 24 is World Day for Laboratory Animals (WDLA). WDLA is observed
every year on April 24th and is an international day of
commemoration for the suffering of animals in laboratories. WDLA
also urges for the replacement of live animal experimentation with
advanced scientific non-animal research techniques.
LCA has been exposing the horrific abuse animals suffer in the name
of research for over 35 years. What have we learned from all the
suffering of animals in laboratories? That animal experimentation is
cruel, unethical, wasteful and unreliable. Animal suffering in
laboratories must stop. Click here to learn more and join the fight.
Below, in honor of WDLA, one of LCA's investigators speaks first
hand of the animal suffering she witnessed while undercover at ITR
Laboratories Canada in Montreal, Quebec.
"I remember the first day at ITR, walking through the facility and
hearing the dogs crying out; hundreds of them, wanting nothing more
than to be loved, to feel the warmth of a human, to know life beyond
the concrete walls and endless suffering.
I peered through the tiny window of each door as I walked the
sterile-white hallways leading to rooms that held dogs, monkeys,
rabbits, mini-pigs, mice and rats. Rows and rows of steel cages,
cold and lit by fluorescent lights, not a window in any of the rooms
other than the door. They watched the window incessantly, awaiting
in fear of the people in white suits that would perform tests on
them that even I was not prepared for.
The dogs, like all the other animals were purpose-bred, and would
never experience the feeling of grass beneath their feet, warm
sunshine on their faces, the love of someone who wanted nothing more
from them than companionship.
For months I worked undercover, participating in studies that caused
suffering, pain, and even death. I remember quite vividly the day I
had to walk the dogs from one of the studies to their death. These
dogs were all less than a year old. One by one I brought them down
the hall in carriers. The majority of their short lives had been
spent tethered to a cage by an IV line, being fed toxins. After they
were given a sedative, they each had about a minute to feel freedom
and run around the exam room, wagging their tails in anticipation of
something better. But it wasn’t meant to be.
The day I left ITR for the last time I sat crippled in the parking
lot, unable to drive away. The incredible guilt I felt knowing that
the suffering would continue long after I was gone was unbearable.
Months of what I had experienced had come to an end, but their
suffering was just beginning.
In closing, if I could ask you to honor the lives of these animals
and shop cruelty-free. Pressure cosmetic companies to end the
suffering and ask your government officials to protect animals in
research and to urge the use of non-animal research alternatives."
How You Can Help
1. SHOP CRUELTY-FREE: Buy cruelty-free products that are not tested
on animals.
Click here for more information.
2. EDUCATE OTHERS:
Watch and share LCA's ITR investigation video, and share this
message with family and friends.
3. DONATE TO LCA: Keep
LCA
fighting on behalf of animals.