Get the Tissues: Watch Dog Rescued from Lab Flourish With a Lot of Love

Update: Libby’s transformation is a thing of beauty. This new video of her with her adoptive family says it all.

Find out below how you can give more individuals like Libby the happy life that they deserve.

The following was originally published on July 8, 2011:

When she first met her rescuer, the emaciated dog crawled on her belly, longing for affection but too terrified to stand up. Known only as the number tattooed on her ear, she was sick with hookworms, tapeworms, and a vaginal infection, and her teeth were rotted.

© Michele Pelletier

Libby, as she would soon be named, was one of nearly 250 dogs and cats rescued last fall from animal testing hellhole Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. after it shut down following a PETA investigation. Pharmaceutical companies paid the laboratory to infest dogs and cats with worms, fleas, and ticks and then force-feed them or smear their skin with toxic chemicals in tests for companion-animal products. Our investigator recorded workers as they kicked, threw, and dragged dogs; lifted puppies by their throats; and screamed obscenities at animals. A former supervisor and three former employees of the laboratory were indicted earlier this week on felony cruelty charges.

Despite all that she has been through, Libby has become a happy, playful girl in her loving new home. She wrestles and plays tug-of-war with her two adopted canine siblings, and she loves going out on walks and snuggling under the covers.

© Michele Pelletier

Learn more about experiments on animals on The PETA Podcast:

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Dogs like Libby are still suffering in laboratories. You can help by buying only cruelty-free products and letting companies that perform animal tests know why you will not be a customer. You can also donate to PETA’s Rescue and Investigations fund to help us continue to investigate cruelty and seek justice for the animal victims.