Landmark Case Marks the First Felony Cruelty Charges for Abuse of Animals in a Laboratory
For Immediate Release:
July 6, 2011
Contact:
Robbyn Brooks 202-483-7382
Gatesville, N.C. — In response to a PETA undercover investigation that documented widespread abuse and systemic neglect of cats, dogs, and rabbits at Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. (PLRS), in Corapeake, N.C., a grand jury has indicted four individuals who worked at PLRS on 14 felony cruelty-to-animals charges. This is the first time in U.S. history that workers have faced felony cruelty charges for their treatment of animals in a lab and only the second ever criminal prosecution of cruelty to animals used in labs; the first was PETA's 1981 Silver Spring monkeys case.
"If someone hits, kicks, throws or neglects animals, it's a crime, wherever it happens," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "These charges are a reminder that nobody—not even laboratory employees—is above the law."
Mary Ramsey—who was employed as a PLRS supervisor during the time of PETA's investigation—and Jessica Detty were each indicted on five counts of cruelty to animals, while Christine Clement and Tracy Small were each indicted on two counts. The defendants were among those shown on PETA's video footage kicking, throwing, and dragging dogs; lifting rabbits by their ears and puppies by their throats; violently slamming cats into cages; and screaming obscenities at animals, calling them "asshole" and "mother---er." One of the defendants was shown trying to rip out a cat's claws by violently pulling the animal from the fence onto which he or she clung in fear.
Just one week after PETA filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), PLRS surrendered nearly 200 dogs and more than 50 cats and shut its doors. The USDA's initial inspection report confirmed serious health issues and substandard housing conditions at PLRS, which had tested flea and tick preventatives and other products for Sergeant's, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Merck, Schering-Plough, Pfizer, and Merial, the makers of Frontline.
The USDA's full investigation of PETA's complaint is ongoing and likely to take several months.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.