VIDEO: Frantic Beagles Trapped in Inhalation Masks at Notorious Lab Supplier With Ties to Genentech

For Immediate Release:
October 29, 2024

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

PETA released disturbing video footage today, reportedly from New York–based laboratory supplier Marshall BioResources, showing tethered and panicked beagles wearing tight-fitting masks—similar to the inhalation masks dogs are forced to wear in chemical testing—covering their snouts. PETA is urging the company’s customers—including San Francisco–based Genentech, which has purchased animals from the dog and ferret breeder—to examine their business ties with the company.

Marshall BioResources charges a higher price for dogs it claims it has “trained” to wear the inhalation masks to make it easier for experimenters to test aerosol chemicals. But in letters sent to Genentech and other customers today, PETA called out Marshall BioResources about this lie, pointing out that this is “learned helplessness,” not “training.” The beagles, who struggle to remove the masks, eventually realize they can’t and simply give up.

PETA also informed the customers that Marshall BioResources has been cited by federal authorities for numerous animal welfare violations, including keeping dogs and ferrets in filthy, decrepit wire cages and failing to provide animals with adequate veterinary care.

Marshall BioResources, which is the largest U.S. breeder of dogs and ferrets for experimentation, sells animals to multiple federal agencies, pharmaceutical companies, and laboratories around the world. It cages as many as 22,000 beagles and other dogs.

“No decent company would buy beagles from this filthy mass breeder,” says PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna. “PETA calls on Genentech and other customers to reconsider their relationship with this cruel operation and switch to superior animal-free research methods that leave dogs and other animals in peace.”

Earlier this year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration levied a penalty of $18,282 against Marshall BioResources for lax workplace safety procedures after an employee’s hand was amputated by an industrial mixer. In June, PETA alerted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to a whistleblower report that included photos of beagles and ferrets locked inside filthy, feces-filled cages with dirty food and water containers.

In 2022, Marshall BioResources was ground zero for a widespread canine distemper outbreak. It affected 250,000 baby ferrets and spread potentially life-threatening bacterial infections through its cat and pig colonies. The outbreak likely stemmed, in part, from the close confinement of highly stressed animals.

Marshall BioResources also shipped “acutely sick and dying” animals across the U.S. and Canada, according to large pet store chains.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.