Grab Some Tissues and Watch This Dog, Rescued From an Animal Testing Hellhole, Flourish With a Lot of Love

For Immediate Release:
November 14, 2017

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

As this new PETA video released today shows, Libby is a sweet, gentle dog with a dream life: She has a loving guardian, good food, a soft bed, and lots of walks and playtime to fill her days. But she’s still startled by loud noises and afraid of her leash. Why? Because she spent the first part of her life at a filthy contract-testing laboratory in rural North Carolina called Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. (PLRS), where she was known only by the number tattooed on her ear: 534120.

Seven years ago, when she was released from PLRS—which shut down following a PETA investigation that exposed workers screaming at the animals, slamming them into cages, and smearing their skin with toxic chemicals—Libby was bone-thin, her teeth were rotted, and she was riddled with hookworms and tapeworms. Desperate for affection but too terrified to stand up, she shook and crawled on her stomach when she met her new guardian. On her first walk, she plodded along on her leash, not looking around, simply resigned to her fate.

It’s taken lots of patience and care, but now, Libby loves walks, snuggling under the covers, and playing tug-of-war with her adopted canine siblings. Her own special name is short for “liberation” and a derivation of “libi”, the Hebrew word meaning “my heart.” She has a stable home and a second chance at life, and she won’t ever be used as a living test tube again.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—has posted more details about Libby’s “life after the laboratory” here.