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Documents and video obtained by PETA from the European organizations www.thecampbeagle.com and Anima Denmark have revealed that thousands of dogs are being transported by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and others from the U.S. to laboratories around the world, where they’re tormented and killed in pointless experiments. We need your help to stop the airline.
Between April 2021 and May 2023, SAS and others have flown more than 5,300 dogs from U.S. suppliers to European testing laboratories. The company has blood on its hands.
Where Do the Dogs Come From?
Most of the dogs SAS transports come from Marshall BioResources (aka Marshall Farms), which operates a giant beagle factory farm in upstate New York. On any given day, Marshall cages more than 20,000 beagles, hounds, and other dogs.
Marshall has been cited repeatedly for dozens of violations of federal animal welfare standards mandated by U.S. law. For instance, regulations require that dog cages be “large” enough to allow dogs to stand up, sit down, lie down, and turn around. But Marshall has failed to meet even those bargain-basement requirements.
The company has housed dogs in unsanitary, dilapidated wire cages inside buildings infested with mice and flies and has failed to provide dogs with adequate veterinary care.
Since 2021, Marshall has exported nearly 5,000 dogs to European laboratories with the help of accomplices such as SAS.
Envigo (Yes, That Envigo)
Between December 2019 and May 2022, SAS flew dogs from Envigo’s festering hellhole in rural Virginia that PETA’s groundbreaking undercover investigation exposed. Following our investigation, nearly 450 dogs and puppies were seized, federal citations for dozens of violations of animal welfare laws were issued, and a legal battle between the company and the U.S. Department of Justice ensued. The facility closed, and nearly 4,000 dogs held there were liberated for adoption into loving homes.
What Happens to the Dogs?
Records acquired by the U.K. organization www.thecampbeagle.com and analyzed by PETA show that more than 2,300 dogs, some of whom were flown on SAS between October 2021 and September 2022, wound up in facilities in France, Hungary, the Netherlands and the U.K. operated by Charles River Laboratories, an animal testing behemoth that conducts painful tests on animals for companies that produce industrial chemicals, pesticides, food additives, and pharmaceuticals. In these tests, animals are force-fed test compounds, they’re forced to inhale toxic substances, and experimental chemicals are smeared onto their shaved skin. They may endure severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, convulsions, seizures, paralysis, and bleeding from the nose, mouth, and genitals before they ultimately die or are killed.
Worldwide Opposition
In 2012, Marshall’s Italian dog factory farm, Green Hill, was shut down following allegations that dogs were mistreated. In 2015, three members of management at Green Hill were found guilty of “unjustified killing and mistreatment of dogs” and were sentenced to 12 to 18 months in prison. In India, a whistleblower worked with PETA India in 2012 to catch Marshall’s China facility in a lie. It told authorities that 70 beagles the company was shipping were “pets” who would not “be hurt or killed as Lab Animal” [sic]. The dogs were actually headed to a laboratory to be used in cruel, deadly poisoning tests.
Since July 2021, animal protectionists in the U.K. have been protesting outside Marshall’s beagle-breeding facility in Wyton, Cambridgeshire. The campaign is backed by celebrities, scientists, politicians, and others.
The Right Side of History
Many leading airlines and transport companies—including FedEx, UPS, Cathay Pacific, Korean Airlines, British Airways, Aer Lingus, Cargolux Airlines, Qantas Airways, and EVA Air—refuse to ship animals destined for laboratories. Thanks to PETA campaigns, all commercial airlines have stopped transporting primates for experimentation and Lufthansa has banned shipments of cats, dogs, and primates destined for laboratories.
What You Can Do
SAS must join the list of enlightened air carriers that refuse to be part of this gruesome industry. Please TAKE ACTION by urging the airline to stop shipping animals to their deaths.