It’s been nearly 40 years since PETA’s historic Silver Spring monkeys case—the groundbreaking investigation that first thrust animal rights into mainstream consciousness. In the decade that followed, we waged a legal battle for the Silver Spring monkeys, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The experimenter was convicted on cruelty charges, and we were able to get many of the monkeys seized and moved to a private habitat out of view of visitors at the San Diego Zoo.
Today, PETA is at the forefront of the movement we began, exposing horrifying abuse, stopping deadly experiments, and promoting modern, non-animal test methods that hold real promise for combatting COVID-19 and other deadly conditions. No animal organization in the world has done more to help animals condemned to laboratories than PETA.
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Here are just a few of the many animals we’ve rescued, thanks to your help:
There’s no such thing as a “lab rat,” but there are definitely lap rats. Sisters Peggy, Sarah, and Siri were bred and born at the Cleveland Clinic for painful brain experiments—but they were rescued by a PETA investigator. Now, they get to play, burrow, explore, build nests, snuggle, and enjoy tickles from their guardian.
After the rain comes the rainbow. Rainbow and Mango were two of the cats who endured holes being drilled into their skulls, metal restraint posts screwed into their heads, and steel coils implanted in their eyes at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
But a PETA campaign that included more than 369,000 e-mails from supporters got the laboratory closed and the remaining cats adopted into loving homes. With a gentle and caring family, Rainbow and Mango are learning that humans can be kind.
Just in time for Christmas, PETA India saved 70 beagle puppies from experimenters’ clutches and got them safely into the hands of adoption coordinators. The puppies had been shipped from China under the guise of being sold as companions—but they were actually bound for laboratories. PETA India called on the government to intervene, pointing out that the dogs’ falsified paperwork should make the shipment illegal. It worked, and none of the dogs ever had to step paw inside a lab. Happy holidays, indeed.
Beagles will do just about anything to please their guardians, and the same qualities that make them devoted companions for caring people also make them prime targets for experimenters. That’s how a PETA investigator found Buddy, Copper, and nearly 250 other animals: held in cages at Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. (PLRS), in North Carolina, being force-fed experimental compounds and abused by workers. PETA’s evidence got the facility closed down, the workers indicted on 14 felony cruelty-to-animals charges, and the animals freed. Buddy and Copper first went to Kindness Ranch, a sanctuary that helps animals rescued from laboratories heal from the trauma. Staff there said that, incredibly, both dogs still had so much love to give. And give it they did, to their devoted adoptive families.
The happily-ever-after stories of animals rescued from PLRS didn’t stop there. Take a look at the animals who were taken in by the Virginia Beach SPCA, learning how to play, receive affection, and live as they should…
… including, adopted beagle Hugs playing with her new sister, Jezebel …
… tabby Perry Como illustrating how he got the purrfect name …
… and the 35 animals who were taken in by the SPCA of Wake County, helping shelter staff conduct some of the best “experiments” ever:
It was a short drive home for Jack and Wally. These adorable rats were used in a college’s food-deprivation experiments and were slated to be killed at the end of the course. But a concerned teaching assistant contacted PETA for help with finding them homes—and we offered it, instantly. The staffer who picked them up couldn’t bear to part with them and adopted both.
When Sheena’s elderly guardian became too weak to care for her properly, she took the gentle dog to the North Utah Valley Animal Shelter and called to check on her regularly. Three weeks later, she was told that the shelter had sold Sheena to the University of Utah to be used in experiments. Distraught, the woman called PETA for help. We got Sheena out of the lab before she could be tested on and into a wonderful adoptive home. Then our undercover investigation and campaign made the school agree to stop taking animals from shelters to be used like test tubes, ending shelter seizure in Utah.
The image below represents all of those who never had to be rescued from a laboratory:
They were never trapped inside a barren metal cage and never knew the pain of experiments, because you persuaded companies to stop testing on animals, you got hospitals to switch to human patient simulators, you ended shelter seizure, and you told the government “not with my money.”
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During PETA’s “Stop Animal Testing” Challenge, every donation is being matched dollar for dollar until October 31. You can make a gift in a loved one’s name for the holidays or include this vital cause in your own tax-deductible charitable giving for the year. Even $5 goes a long way toward getting more animals just like these out of laboratories and into loving homes.
