New Delhi: Police in Telangana’s Mahabubnagar Tuesday booked Palamur Biosciences Pvt Ltd, a preclinical contract research organisation, on a complaint filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India which last week cited revelations by a whistleblower to allege a pattern of animal cruelty at the firm’s laboratory.
Circle inspector (CI), Bhootpur, Ramu Krishna, confirmed to ThePrint that the FIR was lodged on the basis of the complaint by PETA India under IPC sections 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of dangerous disease), 289 (negligent conduct towards animals), 337 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 429 (killing, poisoning, maiming, or rendering useless animal of value) read with section 34 (common intention).
PETA India, while asserting that such instances were not isolated but reflect a “recurring pattern” in the global animal experimentation industry, called on the government to shut down the facility, which it dubbed a “house of horrors,” and end animal testing in India.
On 10 June, in a post on X, PETA India revealed large-scale animal abuse at the Telangana-based Palamur Biosciences Pvt Ltd, one of India’s largest government-registered contract laboratories. The information provided by whistleblowers alleged that the facility was killing dogs and other animals without reason and with extreme cruelty, overcrowding them, and subjecting them to social isolation, among other things.
The whistleblowers stepped forward to share video footage, images and testimonies after PETA India filed official complaints with authorities about the likely unauthorised testing on rhesus macaques at the same lab in October 2024, the report said.
The lab claims it is “one of the largest preclinical service providers” and tests drugs, pesticides, and medical devices on animals. It also runs a beagle breeding facility, where, according to the report, 1,500 beagles were being kept in a space for about 800.
Dr Anjana Aggarwal, PETA scientist and research policy adviser, told ThePrint, “This is not an isolated incident but rather business as usual, where systemic cruelty runs rampant.”
“Past investigations by regulatory bodies have revealed similar abuse and neglect of animals at other Indian labs, and PETA entities around the world have documented this as a recurring pattern in the global animal experimentation industry,” Dr Aggarwal added.
In its report, PETA India had said it submitted a complaint with CCSEA, statutory body under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, as well as the CDSCO, the industry regulator for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
PETA India has also reached out to the National GLP Compliance Monitoring Authority (NGCMA), under the Union government’s department of science and technology (DST), which issues Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) certificates. According to the body’s website, “GLP-compliance certification is voluntary in nature.”
ThePrint reached Palamur Biosciences, Committee for the Purpose of Control And Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA), Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and National Good Laboratory Practice Compliance Monitoring Authority (NGCMA) for comment over email but had not received a response by the time of publication. The report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Also Read: Indian laws are letting animals down every day. It’s a legal, moral, ethical issue
Filing complaints only the first step
Asked if flagging the issue to relevant authorities was enough, Aggarwal said, “Filing complaints with regulatory bodies is only the first step. What matters is the enforcement of existing standards. Without swift and meaningful punitive action, cruelty to animals thrives unchecked.”
She called for the lab in Telangana to be shut down, saying, “We urge government regulators to end the torment of animals imprisoned at Palamur Biosciences. Anything less than the facility’s permanent shutdown is a green light for abuse.”
To better regulate such facilities, she said, “authorities must conduct genuinely unannounced inspections without advanced notice, ensure full access to historical records and CCTV footage, protect whistleblowers, and impose serious penalties—not mere warnings—for violations.”
India, she added, needs to get out of the “archaic, cruel, and unscientific animal experimentation business,” citing the example of the the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US National Institute of Health (NIH) that “have already begun the long-overdue transition away from animal testing”.
“Notably, earlier this year, the NIH closed down its beagle laboratory, and the US Navy ended all its testing on dogs and cats, which stands in stark contrast to Palamur Biosciences’ breeding and testing on beagles and other animals,” Aggarwal said.
What PETA India report said—Inside the ‘house of horrors’
The report, which PETA said was a first-of-its-kind whistleblower exposé, documented the neglect of dogs, pigs, and monkeys used by Palamur Biosciences. The lab is located in Karvena village, Mahabubnagar district.
A whistleblower said that, at the lab, being deemed “useless” meant certain death for the animal. They shared several instances where animals were allegedly killed, including two involving sick dogs—one with a cherry eye and a beagle with a fungal infection.
One whistleblower told PETA India that over 100 dogs were killed in a single incident simply because they were no longer considered “useful”.
According to the PETA report, animals were also being subjected to overcrowding and competition for food, resulting in extreme frustration and frequent fights that often caused serious injuries. Above all, basic treatment, proper wound cleaning, and pain management weren’t provided by the company. Rough handling of dogs often led to fractures, the report said.
Lab workers also showed cruelty while conducting testing, including studies where “dogs were injected subcutaneously with test compounds”.
”According to a whistleblower, animals developed abscesses, ulcers, and signs of severe pain following these injections,” it said.
A whistleblower alleged that, depending on the location of the abscess, further health issues were seen in the dogs.
The report further claimed that the laboratory purchased Göttingen minipigs from Denmark, but does not have a license to breed them. When a minipig was found pregnant, the head veterinarian allegedly ordered the killing of the piglets through intracardiac injection. Despite a policy requiring Palamur to provide playtime for pigs, they are only permitted access to enrichment when customers are around, the report alleged.
According to the allegations, among the wild rhesus macaques from Rajasthan, some tested positive for zoonotic pathogens, likely monkeypox. The company simply kept quiet and killed the monkeys, risking infection to others, the report claimed.
Riju Chanda is an intern with ThePrint
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
What a bloody shame in the country of the Mahatma who said “a nation can be known by the way it treats its animals “. Animal experiments are unnecessary and useless. There is cell difference between animals and humans. We became Draculas. Bravo India, Cheers Telengana – Drink more blood!
PETA must be banned and every single PETA employee/volunteer must be arrested and prosecuted.
This organization is an absolute nuisance and has made life hell for the common man in India.
The sooner we get rid of it, the better off we will be as a nation.
So well written; ✨🫶