The inspectors noted that surplus animals are haphazardly stuffed into repurposed rooms adjacent to where experiments are taking place, without health screens or attention to biosecurity protocols.
Published Jun 26, 2025 | 5:50 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 26, 2025 | 5:50 PM
Frightened Rhesus Macaque With Tail Injury (supplied)
Synopsis: Over 1,200 animals were found in poor and neglected conditions at Palamur Biosciences, a research and breeding facility in Telangana, following a government inspection triggered by a whistleblower complaint. The inspection report pointed to serious violations, including lack of proper veterinary care, inadequate housing, repeated use of animals in experiments, and concealment of species present at the site.
A Union government-appointed inspection committee has found that over 1,200 animals were being kept in distressing conditions at Palamur Biosciences, a contract research and beagle-breeding facility in Telangana.
The findings were outlined in a report by the Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA), following a two-day inspection prompted by a whistleblower exposé released by PETA India.
Inspectors documented that 1,232 animals were housed at the facility, including dogs, monkeys, pigs, cattle, sheep, rabbits, rats and mice. Notably, the laboratory had initially denied the presence of some species.
The committee, led by Dr Mukesh Kumar Gupta, CCSEA member and Director of the ICMR-National Animal Resource Facility for Biomedical Research and Dr Vivek Tyagi, Senior Consultant with CCSEA and member of the Animal Welfare Board of India, reported severe and widespread violations of animal welfare standards.
The committee has recommended immediate regulatory action, including the removal and rehabilitation of animals to prevent further suffering. It has also called for a critical review of the facility’s registration and breeding licence, citing repeated and serious violations of regulatory norms.
The inspection revealed that Palamur Biosciences houses dogs (beagles), pigs, sheep, cattle including cows, monkeys, rats, mice and rabbits for experiments, despite initially denying that some of these species were present at the facility.
The inspectors also counted far more dogs than approved by CCSEA.
One of the most alarming findings was the facility’s complete failure to maintain an inventory of animals housed at the laboratory.
The inspectors noted that surplus animals are haphazardly stuffed into repurposed rooms adjacent to where experiments are taking place, without health screens or attention to biosecurity protocols.
Dogs are kept on hard, uncomfortable perforated floors without bedding, enrichment, outdoor access or suitable exercise opportunities. The breeding section forced dogs to languish in their own filth, with an insufficient small play area with hard flooring that exists only in name.
The report documented that 73 dogs are under so-called rehabilitation in a makeshift arrangement, facing the exact same bleak housing conditions as dogs used for breeding and experiments.
Animals across all species are reused in painful experiments, often within weeks of being used for other studies, which violates CCSEA guidelines.
Other species were similarly relegated to barren cages with no outdoor enclosures, even for non-human primates. Narrow metal platforms inside monkey cages made it difficult for them to sit or lie down comfortably.
Twelve cows, all underweight, were kept without adequate protection from the elements and were found standing in wet mud.
The inspection revealed serious concerns about veterinary care and animal handling practices.
Dogs were observed in poor condition, suffering from cherry eye and appearing underweight, yet there were no appropriate medical records of any kind and no evidence of treatments for sick animals.
The general body condition of minipigs and cows was also found to be poor.
An animal handler was observed roughly handling a dog by the scruff in front of inspectors. The inspection report noted that the casual manner in which this was done suggests that rough handling is a routine and accepted practice at the facility.
This observation was supported by whistleblower video footage showing workers slamming dogs’ legs in cage bars.
The facility’s euthanasia procedures were found to be severely inadequate. Sedatives required for humane euthanasia are not used before killing dogs, and there is a lack of sufficient drugs indicating improper euthanasia procedures.
Dogs are fed only once daily, further demonstrating inadequate care standards.
The inspection uncovered serious biosecurity and public health risks at the facility.
There was a complete absence of dedicated quarantine facilities across all animal housing units, posing significant risks to animal health, biosecurity and disease containment.
Animals were moved around the facility without due disease checks and health screens.
Particularly concerning was the finding that primates are wild-caught and the current screening protocol does not check for Kyasanur Forest Disease, which is transmissible from monkey to monkey and from monkeys to humans.
The facility also lacks an anxiety, fear and distress management protocol, with inspectors noting that two monkeys undergoing experiments involving incisions creating wounds were operated on without any sedatives.
The inspection revealed a glaring absence of proper record-keeping systems at Palamur Biosciences, including failure to note the frequency of use of each animal in experiments.
The inspectors characterised this fragmented and superficial record-keeping as reflecting a seriously negligent approach to both regulatory compliance and animal welfare standards.
Only two veterinarians were present during the inspection, raising serious concerns about the availability of veterinary care at the facility.
There is no veterinary coverage during night hours, and night staff are not present in animal quarters during these periods.
The facility had hardly any medicines available given the animal population, with no sedatives, analgesics, anaesthetics or emergency pain-management medicines on hand.
The inspection committee found evidence of deliberate concealment by facility management.
White Yorkshire mixed breed pigs were not initially disclosed to the inspection team, with their use for heart-related experiments only coming to light through a staff member’s accidental admission.
The facility initially denied that any sheep were present, but inspectors found seven sheep on the premises.
Claims of animal care by Palamur Biosciences did not match CCTV footage, and only curated CCTV footage was made available to inspectors even after repeated requests.
The inspectors noted inconsistencies between approved protocols and the actual number of animals present at the facility.
The inspection committee concluded that the operational deficiencies observed at Palamur Biosciences are not isolated incidents but indicative of entrenched structural, procedural and ethical failures.
The overall approach to animal welfare and care at the facility reflects a deeply troubling lack of commitment to the health and wellbeing of animals in its custody.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
