Champaign’s Kennelwood Needs to Shut Down: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
March 15, 2022

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding federal documents that reveal serious animal welfare violations at the Champaign-based contract dog testing laboratory Kennelwood.

It appears that Kennelwood is either incapable of complying or unwilling to comply with minimum federal animal welfare standards. In either case, it needs to get out of the cruel animal testing business. According to a just-posted federal inspection report obtained by PETA, the facility hadn’t even noticed that a 10-year-old hound named Oliver suffered from a dental condition and a wound on his leg, while another named Baxter suffered from receding gums and a moist, red sore on his leg. Neither dog was receiving veterinary care. The U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector also reported that Kennelwood was not keeping up-to-date veterinary-care records for the more than 100 dogs confined at its facility, and for more than 15 months, the company’s institutional oversight body failed to inspect its facilities, review its animal care program, or hold meetings to discuss experiments on dogs and cats—all required by federal law.

This isn’t the first time Kennelwood has run afoul of federal animal welfare laws. In 2019, the facility was cited for failing to supply veterinary care to a 10-year-old beagle named Sheba who suffered from advanced dental disease and a 3-year-old beagle named Joey who had multiple lesions on his legs. Federal inspectors documented the dogs’ condition with photographs, which PETA obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.