The Humane Society asks the Inotiv animal experimentation laboratory to release 80 beagles

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Three boxes of papers were reportedly filled with more than 100,000 signatures demanding the release of beagles allegedly inside a Mount Vernon animal testing lab outside Inotiv headquarters on Friday.

The petitions were left to windward from West Lafayette.

On April 21, the Humane Society released a seven-month secret investigation alleging thousands of cases of animal suffering and death at an animal testing lab headquartered in West Lafayette.

Friday’s protest centered on the 80 beagles reported at the Mount Vernon testing site.

The boxes were decorated with photos of beagles allegedly at the Inotiv test site.

A dozen animal advocates in and around Indiana marched from Applebee’s on Sagamore Parkway, along a trail to Inotiv and were greeted by two West Lafayette police officers.

Officers informed petition organizers that they should stick to the public trail and not venture onto Inotiv property.

Earlier:Inotiv responds to the Humane Society‘s secret investigation

Todd Blevins, Kentucky State Director for HSUS, asked what would happen if they delivered the petitions to the front door.

“They absolutely don’t want you on their property,” one of the officers said.

How do you deliver 100,000 signatures then? Mail them, the officer suggested.

That’s not what the National Humane Society promised those who signed the petitions, said Anne Sterling, vice president of state affairs for the Bloomington-based HSUS.

“We are committed to delivering petitions in the safest way possible while remaining on public property,” Sterling said Friday. “So I’ll get the group together, we’ll walk down the sidewalk, staying on public property. And we’ll drop off the petitions in front of their building, on public property.”

The boxes were left in front of the Inotiv sign, and the group – which included Lilac and Fuchsia beagles, sisters available for adoption and a basset hound named Bella – walked away.

“People should keep signing the petitions,” Sterling said. “We’re going to get the petitions delivered. We’re not giving up on these dogs.”

Employees at the Inotiv office were unaware of the impending visit, according to a man who said he could not identify himself. He added that most people who oppose testing think the beagles are in the West Lafayette facility.

“Only you have that right,” he said before the group arrived, before telling J&C staff members to leave the property and stay on public sidewalks.

There are no public sidewalks in front of Inotiv, a detail West Lafayette police also offered.

By 12:30 p.m., less than an hour after the group began their walk to the entrance to Inotiv, the boxes were no longer on the trail.

The secret investigation

On April 21, HSUS released a report detailing an investigation involving an undercover agent at Inotiv Inc.’s Mount Vernon, Indiana, facility who was allegedly assigned to more than 70 toxicity studies involving approximately 6,000 animals.

“Our mission at Inotiv,” a company representative told the Journal & Courier after the report was published, “is to help our customers realize the full potential of their scientific and medical research, which ultimately contributes to a significant improvement in the lives of humans and animals.

“The research we perform is legally required in the United States to develop lifesaving drugs, medical devices and biologics.”

After:Beagles and monkeys are often used for medical and toxicity testing. Here’s why.

The Journal & Courier reached out to Inotiv’s spokesperson on Friday afternoon for comment before the deadline. Any comments, if received, will be added to the online story.

Among the alleged findings of the HSUS report, some 80 beagle puppies were used in toxicity tests in which the dogs were allegedly forced to ingest a drug through a stomach tube every day for months. These beagles, according to the Humane Society, will be killed beginning in mid-May.

The dozens of beagles said to have been at Mount Vernon remained in the minds of petitioners, including Kathy Gilbert of Waldo’s Muttley Crew, an Indianapolis anti-killing organization that “provides all veterinary care and training necessary that will help our animals find their ‘furever'”. homes,” according to the website.

“They are the most adorable dogs,” Gilbert said, holding the leashes of beagle sisters Fuchsia and Lilac. The dogs will eventually be available for adoption, she said, but for now they are being treated for a recently diagnosed heartworm.

More than 1,600 beagles are at the Indiana testing facility, said Sterling, whose young son Wilder walked with the group.

The beagles would no doubt be adopted if released, the lawyers said.

Molly Tamulevich, the Michigan director for the HSUS who was part of the group issuing the petitions, said more than 800 requests had been received after a previous undercover investigation involving a Michigan lab found 32 beagles in the process of test.

Deanna Watson is editor-in-chief of the Journal & Courier. Contact her at dwatson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @deannawatson66.