Considered one of the US’s largest animal blood banks has allegedly been drawing its supply from “emaciated, sick, injured, elderly and/or medicated” cats and dogs — and selling it to veterinarians nationwide despite safety concerns, in keeping with a bombshell report currently being investigated by authorities in Indiana.
The disturbing allegations were lodged against the Veterinarians’ Blood Bank in Indiana by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals after an undercover investigator spent seven months last yr at the ability.
Not only has VBB allegedly been mistreating animals and keeping them as donors for all times, the blood it ships out is potentially dangerous to the animals that receive it — mostly cats and dogs who’re pets, in keeping with PETA complaints to state and native officials.
“Our investigator saw staff take blood from animals that were sick with cancer and other infections, sometimes pulling blood every week before the animal dies,” PETA vp Dan Paden told The Post. “These were compromised animals.”
An injured dog that an undercover PETA investigator took a photograph of at an animal blood bank. PETA
PETA cited photos and videos of a staggering 860 animals being held at the enormous facility. Disturbing footage shows dogs suffering wounds brought on by fights with incompatible kennel mates, in keeping with the complaints. In a single segment, a staffer claims her manager paid her $200 for acquiring two stray cats from Facebook ads, in keeping with video footage. Elsewhere, staffers discuss a 12-year-old hound that had been born at VBB and endured an “awful” debarking surgery.
Kennels with “hard, grated floors that caused injuries to the animals’ feet and legs” and cages weren’t cleaned day by day, in keeping with PETA’s complaints to government authorities.
The Post couldn’t independently confirm that the video was taken at VBB.
The Indiana State Board of Animal Health opened an investigation of VBB after visiting the Vallonia, Ind. facility at the top of the yr and receiving a criticism from PETA, the agency confirmed to The Post. A PETA investigation seven years ago of one other blood bank in Texas that held 150 dogs in “deplorable” conditions resulted in that facility shuttering.
The Veterinarians’ Blood Bank, founded in 2002, is housed at facility (left) in Vallonia, Ind. Google Maps
It’s a rare glimpse into the largely unregulated animal blood bank industry, whose oversight has been left to varied state agencies or local law enforcement offices. There isn’t any federal guidance concerning the “housing and treatment of animal blood donors,” in keeping with the Association of Veterinary Hematology and Transfusion Medicine.
There are about 10 large business animal blood banks like VBB within the US, with the remainder administered by veterinarian schools or nonprofits where most animal donors live in homes as pets, in keeping with AVHTM president Dana LeVine, who teaches on the College of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn University.
“Most individuals feel that the animals should do their service and be adopted out after just a few years,” LeVine told The Post, noting that that’s the practice of business banks including Hemopet and Animal Blood Resources International.
Most banks draw blood monthly or every two months, in keeping with Anne Hale, a veterinarian in Recent Mexico and member of AVHTM. In contrast, VBB’s animals live at the ability for the remainder of their lives, during which their blood is drawn every three weeks, PETA claims.
VBB was founded in 2002 by veterinarians Ron Harrison and Darren Bryant, in keeping with its website, which has a blog that hasn’t been updated since 2014. It displays one article that touts an all-volunteer blood bank in Virginia called Blue Ridge that relies on pet owners to usher in their pets for blood donations.
In an interview with The Post, Bryant declined to comment on the video and declined to directly address whether the ability draws blood from sick animals. He acknowledged that the animals share kennels and might get wounded during fights, but that the injuries are usually not “unattended.”
Dogs at VBB are penned in pairs and sometime fight with one another. PETA
PETA alleges that the dogs get wounds from fighting with one another and from the hard surfaces of their kennels. PETA
He said the state inspector “had small complaints like a rusty spot on a cage or the way in which we disinfect the food bowls,” and that the inspector advisable that VBB give the dogs “thicker pads” for relief from the hard floor.
“If our animals are usually not healthy, people are usually not going to purchase a blood product from us,” Bryant told The Post.
VBB doesn’t have an adoption program for the animals it holds, in keeping with Bryant, who said the ability houses “more like 500” dogs and cats versus PETA’s claim of 860.
“In the event that they are too old to donate blood they only live here,” Bryant said. “It’s not a foul life. They’re exercised each day and their pens are cleaned each day.”
“We don’t have strays so far as I do know,” Bryant added, responding to a different allegation by PETA in its letters of criticism. He said he had no knowledge of the staff’s efforts to obtain pets via Facebook ads. “We purchase animals from individuals who breed them for research for the medical community,” he said.
Cats are also kept as blood donors at VBB. PETA
When Indiana’s Board of Animal Health inspected the VBB facility it was accompanied by an official from the Jackson County Sheriff’s office in response to an “animal cruelty” criticism from PETA alleging that two cats at VBB had serious medical conditions that weren’t being treated.
“We’re investigating this facility,” Denise Derrer Spears, a spokesperson for the Indiana agency told The Post. An inspector made recommendations for the cat facility to raised “align with standard industry practices” and a report on the dogs is within the works, Spears said. The inspector remains to be interviewing people related to VBB and can return for a follow-up inspection, Spears said.
The last time the state visited the ability was “5 – 6 years ago,” Spears added.
The agency’s authority is proscribed because it is tasked specifically with oversight of dog breeding facilities within the state and doesn’t regulate blood banks. VBB is registered as a dog breeder, though none of its animals will be adopted by most of the people.
“The first thing we exit to have a look at is animal care and welfare and whether or not they are in good bodily condition,” Spears said.
The animal blood donor industry is cloaked in secrecy, industry experts say. PETA
The sheriff’s office didn’t return calls for comment.
The business animal blood industry was under the highlight in 2017 when PETA’s undercover investigation in Cherokee, Texas revealed the shocking conditions that retired greyhound racing dogs were living in.
That facility, Pet Blood Bank, housed 150 greyhounds – a breed that typically has a universal blood type – who had open wounds, rotting teeth and were kept in dirt floor pens and were deprived of food, care and shelter, in keeping with a Washington Post report.
After the expose, Pet Blood Bank’s largest customer, $6.5 billion Patterson Veterinarian, dropped the corporate, in keeping with Patterson’s website.
One dog at VBB was born at the ability and underwent debarking surgery, PETA alleges. PETA
The National Greyhound Association prohibited its members from sending greyhounds to blood banks directly and banned the dogs from getting used for his or her blood for longer than 18 months or past the age of seven, in keeping with its website.
Other business animal blood banks, including Hemopet in California – the one state that regulates such businesses – confine animals temporarily, eventually putting them up for adoption, in keeping with the company’s website.
The UK regulates animal blood banks, only licensing facilities that depend on volunteers to usher in their pets for donations. There aren’t any so-called “closed colonies” within the UK where animals are held at blood banks, Hale said.