Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Scalded to Death at Bristol-Myers Squibb

Scalded to Death at Bristol-Myers Squibb:
A primate at a Covance primate testing lab.
Update: After receiving
PETA's request for an investigation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found
that Bristol-Myers Squibb was to blame for the hanging death of the monkey and
cited the company for violating the Animal Welfare Act.

 As
if being locked inside a laboratory and treated like a living test
tube weren't torture enough, a whistleblower informed PETA that a monkey and a
rat were recently scalded to death at pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb's
laboratory in Pennington, New Jersey. Their cages were run through the high-pressure
cage washer with the animals still inside,
causing the trapped animals intense agony and terror as the blistering-hot
water burned their flesh.
Also
according to the whistleblower, another monkey strangled to death after she was
attached to the front of her cage, apparently by some sort of leash, and then
left unattended. All three of these tragic deaths, which reportedly occurred
over a six-month period, could have been easily prevented. So what's going on
at Bristol-Myers?
A
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection report substantiates the
whistleblower's report of a monkey dying in the cage washer,
and based on this, PETA suspects that the other allegations are also true. But
it's Bristol-Myers Squibb's turn to be in hot water now: PETA has submitted
complaints to the USDA and the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, asking both to
investigate and hit
the multibillion-dollar company where it hurts—in its bank account—if these
allegations are true.
But
what the pharma giant really must do is stop subjecting tens of thousands of
dogs, rabbits, mice, rats, and monkeys to imprisonment, pain, and death. PETA,
which holds stock in Bristol-Myers Squibb specifically for the purpose of
addressing the company's board and stockholders, has submitted a shareholder
resolution urging it to reduce the company's reliance on animal tests by switching
to modern, non-animal methods and to provide greater transparency of its animal
testing practices. Please, click
here to ask Bristol-Myers Squibb's CEO
to take personal
responsibility for making sure that these recommendations are implemented.

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