Dear Sir/Madam,
I am concerned about the welfare of animals used in the development of Pfizer's
pharmaceutical, consumer, and animal
health products. I understand Pfizer Inc. has regularly employed Huntingdon Life
Sciences (HLS) over the last 12 months. As one of the world's
leading pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer ought to fully evaluate the laboratories it
contracts to conduct animal experiments.
While I am confident no one at your firm condones animal abuse, perhaps you are
unaware of the indisputable cruelty inside
HLS. As recently as late 2005, two former employees from the Beagle Unit left their
jobs in disgust with Huntingdon's sloppy science.
Distressed over the animal suffering they witnessed daily — as well as
fraudulent recordkeeping that endangers consumers — they chose to
publicize what they'd seen during 12 months of employment.
According to tape-recorded testimonial from the two employees, animals are improperly
dosed with test drugs. One worker
described "group 5" dogs who were overdosed in studies for an anti-cancer drug. "In
the morning, there was blood everywhere. I was shocked,
but told to write each dog up as having red-stained feces instead. The next day, one
of the dogs was dead in his pen. Another Team Leader
said they knew the group 5 was too high a dose and they knew there would be problems,
but they went ahead anyway."
Dogs are not sufficiently anesthetized before invasive procedures. Upon conclusion of
an HLS study, test dogs scheduled to die often undergo
removal of bone marrow from the chest bone. The dogs are supposed to be sedated near
death, but still alive during the painful extraction.
"Two team leaders hadn't given the dog enough anesthetic and it whimpered and moved,"
recalls one of the Beagle Unit technicians. "They
didn't give more anesthetic but carried on.
"Most of the staff had a very uncaring attitude towards the animals and they seemed
to be able to just 'switch off' to what
was happening."
Indeed, the past employee recounts daily blood draws that sometimes became contests
to see who could cram in the most before a break.
Given exactly two minutes to pull blood from each dog, careless workers transferred
blood into the wrong tubes. "One license holder I worked
with would go in and out about five times with the same needle, not hitting the vein.
Some dogs would struggle. I saw co-workers grab them
by the scruff, shout and swear at them, swing them by the scruff and slap them."
From 1989 to 2006, photos, videos and eyewitness documentation repeatedly show
incompetence, falsified records, and profound animal
cruelty. From 1989 to 2006, Huntingdon Life Sciences has acquired: Multiple citations
for violations of the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, the arrest of
workers on animal cruelty charges, 520 breaches of Good Laboratory Practice in
England, and a $50,000 payoff to the U.S. Agriculture
Department for misstated records and animal welfare infractions. HLS even has a
criminal record in the UK for failure to file company accounts
on time.
I respectfully ask you to join the long list of customers, suppliers, and financiers
who made the ethically responsible decision
to sever ties with HLS. Why risk credibility by association with a facility notorious
for brutality toward animals, staff ineptitude, and fabricated
data? I strongly encourage Pfizer Inc. to issue a straightforward statement that
conveys its refusal to work with Huntingdon Life Sciences.
Thank you for your valuable time and consideration,
YOUR FULL NAME
ADDRESS, CITY, STATE
COUNTRY
