Stern action will be taken against laboratories that subject animals to cruelty, Union minister Jayanthi Natarajan said here on Friday. After visiting the animal quarantine and certification station at Pallikarani, the green minister said a show-cause notice will be served on Advinus, a Bengaluru-based research company, for reportedly importing puppies from China under the title ‘pets’ and using them for experiments.
Two weeks ago, there were complaints to the ministry that a large number of beagle dogs were imported to Chennai and now the issue is under scrutiny. Stating that lab experiments on dogs in India was a multi-crore business, she said the ministry would rescue all animals used for experiments by Advinus, if found guilty.
She also emphasised that the control and supervision of experimentation on animals’ body (under the ministry) would meet on December 3 to consider this case and deregister the company, if found guilty.
Pointing out that such researches were not done necessarily for the benefit of India, she said there are about 1,600 labs in India, of which 3-4 do research on animals, particularly rodents, and said such labs will be scrutinised.
According to sources in People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, so far, around 70 beagles, aged between four and nine months, were imported from China as pets, but used for experiments.