One of the largest animal blood banks in the U.S. supplies blood from cats and dogs that are “debilitated, sick, injured, elderly, and/or medicated,” according to a bombshell report currently under investigation. It is said that the product was being sold to veterinarians across the country despite concerns about it. According to Indiana officials.
The disturbing allegations were filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals against a veterinary blood bank in Indiana last year after undercover investigators spent seven months at the facility.
Not just VBB. According to complaints filed by PETA with state and local authorities, the animals are abused and kept as donors for life, so the blood being transported is potentially harmful to the animals that receive it, primarily pet cats and dogs. It is said to be dangerous.
“Our researchers collected blood samples from animals with cancer and other infectious diseases, sometimes up to a week before the animals died,” said PETA Vice President Dan Padden. he told the Post. “These were animals at risk.”
Photos cited by PETA video This huge facility houses a whopping 860 animals. disturbing footage Shows a dog injured in a fight with an incompatible animal The kennel mates, according to the complaint. In one corner, a staff member claims a manager paid $200 to obtain two stray cats from a Facebook ad, according to video footage. Elsewhere, staff discuss a 12-year-old hound who was born with VBB and endured a “horrible” debarking operation.
PETA complained to government authorities that the kennels and cages, which had “hard grid floors that caused injuries to the animals' legs and feet,” were not cleaned daily.
The Post could not independently confirm that the video was shot at VBB.
The Indiana Animal Health Commission confirmed to the Post that it began investigating VBB after visiting the Valonia, Ind., facility at the end of the year and receiving a complaint from PETA. Seven years ago, a PETA investigation into another blood bank in Texas that kept 150 dogs in “deplorable” conditions led to its closure.
It's a rare glimpse into the largely unregulated animal blood banking industry, where oversight is left to various state agencies and local law enforcement. According to the Society of Veterinary Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, there are no federal guidelines for “housing and treatment of animal blood donors.”
There are about 10 large commercial animal blood banks like VBB in the United States, the rest are managed by veterinary schools and nonprofit organizations, and most animal donors live as household pets, he said. Auburn University, according to AVHTM President Dana Levine, who teaches at the university's College of Veterinary Medicine.
“Most people feel that the animals have fulfilled their service and should be adopted after a few years,” Levine told the Post, adding that commercial banks such as Hemopet and Animal Blood Resources International He pointed out that this is the custom.
Anne Hale, a New Mexico veterinarian and AVHTM member, said most banks draw blood every month or every two months. In contrast, VBB animals live in the facility for their entire lives, during which time their blood is drawn every three weeks, PETA claims.
VBB was founded in 2002 by veterinarians Ron Harrison and Darren Bryant, according to its website. blog This article shows one article promoting an all-volunteer blood bank in Virginia called Blue Ridge that relies on pet owners bringing their pets in to donate blood.
In an interview with the Post, Bryant declined to comment on the video or directly say whether the facility draws blood from sick animals. He acknowledged that the animals share kennels and can be injured during fights, but injuries are not “left unattended.”
He said the state inspector had “minor complaints, like rusty spots on the cage and the way the food bowl was disinfected,” and that the inspector told VBB that the dog should be given a seat to take the strain off the hard floor. It said it recommended giving “thick padding”.
“If the animals weren't healthy, people wouldn't buy blood products from us,” Bryant told the Post.
Bryant said VBB does not have an adoption program for the animals it houses and said the facility has “more than 500” dogs and cats compared to PETA's claim of 860. Ta.
“If they're too old to donate blood, they just live here,” Bryant said. “It's not a bad life. They get exercise every day and their pens are cleaned every day.”
“As far as I know, we don't have any feral cats,” Bryant added, responding to another claim in PETA's complaint. He said he was not aware that staff were trying to source pets through Facebook ads. “We buy animals from people who raise animals for research in the medical community,” he said.
The Indiana Animal Health Commission inspected the VBB facility in response to an “animal cruelty” complaint from PETA, which found that two cats at the VBB facility had serious medical conditions and were not receiving treatment. Jackson County Sheriff's Office personnel accompanied them.
“We are investigating this facility,” Dennis Deller Spears, a spokeswoman for the Indiana state agency, told the Post. Spears said inspectors have recommended that the cat facility be “more consistent with standard industry practices” and that a report on dogs is currently being prepared. Spears said inspectors are continuing to interview VBB officials and he plans to return for a follow-up inspection.
Spears added that the last time the state visited the facility was “five or six years ago.”
The agency is specifically tasked with overseeing dog breeding facilities in the state and does not regulate blood banks, so its authority is limited. Although VBB is a registered dog breeder, the animals are not available for adoption by the public.
“The main thing we look at is the care and welfare of the animals and whether they are in good health,” Spears said.
The sheriff's office did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2017, PETA's undercover investigation in Cherokee, Texas, revealed shocking conditions for retired greyhound racehorses, putting the commercial animal blood industry in the spotlight.
The facility's “Pet Blood Bank” houses 150 greyhounds, a breed with generally universal blood types, who have sores, rotten teeth and live in cages on dirt floors. They say they were kept in prison and given no food, care or shelter. Washington Post coverage.
After the revelations, Pet Blood Bank's largest customer, the $6.5 billion Patterson Veterinarian, left the company. According to Patterson's website.
The National Greyhound Association has prohibited members from sending greyhounds directly to blood banks and prohibited using dogs over 18 months or 7 years of age for blood, according to the association's website. .
Other commercial animal blood banks, including Hemopet in California, the only state that regulates such operations, temporarily imprison animals and eventually place them up for adoption, according to the animal blood bank. . Company website.
The UK regulates animal blood banks and only licenses facilities that rely on volunteer pet donations. There are no so-called “closed colonies” in the UK where animals are kept in blood banks, Hale said.
