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Harlan, founded in 1931, is a major international company with locations throughout the world, including the USA, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Israel, The Netherlands, Mexico and the UK. It is a breeder and supplier of animals, animal diets and bedding for the research industry. Harlan UK Ltd. is the British arm of the parent company, Harlan Sprague Dawley Inc. The UK company has an annual turnover of £6.6 million. |
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According to the company's sales brochure it supplies more stocks and strains of laboratory animals to research than any other commercial producer in the world. Nine species (beagles, marmosets, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, gerbils, cats and hamsters) and over 225 stocks and strains of laboratory animals (including hybrid, mutant and transgenic animals) are produced. Harlan UK claim to have customers across 30 countries which include pharmaceutical and biotech companies, universities, and government agencies.
In recent years Harlan UK has expanded its services to offer a veritable supermarket of biological products including monoclonal antibodies, laboratory animal sera, plasma, whole blood, organs, glands and tissues. It also offers other services such as surgically altered animals, diagnostic services, health screening, genetic monitoring and contract services. |
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In the UK, Harlan UK doesn't just breed dogs for experiments. It also breeds and supplies marmosets, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice.
Our investigator was told that Harlan UK breeds approximately 450 baby marmoset monkeys every year, which are sold for research across Europe. Each sells for approximately £1,000. Our concern over animal welfare at Harlan UK also extends to other species. In another unit, guinea pigs are bred and kept in multi-tiered metal cages. Many of the cages are overcrowded and contain both adults and their young. The floor of the cage is made of metal bars, and although hay is initially put in each cage, it is soon pushed through the bars leaving the animals to live and even give birth on the bare bars. In particular, baby guinea pigs have difficulty walking on these bars, their paws fall through and become trapped. Some were found trampled to death by the adults. On some occasions the guinea pigs have been neglected through not being checked, fed or watered. In March 97 the animals were not cleaned, fed or watered for four days. In August 98 the animals were again not fed or watered for a number of days - eight adult guinea pigs and a number of new-borns were found dead, arguably as a direct result of this neglect. Mass killings of hundreds of 'excess' guinea pigs, rats and mice also take place on a regular basis. Most of the entries in Harlan UK's records do not even record the numbers of animals that are killed. However, in just eight days during December 97, 53 rats and 82 mice were killed. On just one day in August 98, 84 mice and 12 guinea pigs were killed. Harlan UK also provides a housing service to other research companies for both stock and experimental animals. A group of stump-tailed macaque monkeys and a number of cynomolgus monkeys are also kept on site. The unit containing the macaques has no windows and no natural light. They are housed singly in small, barren metal and wooden pens. The monkeys have been on the site for years. The oldest macaque was 29 years old. She was killed only recently. We believe Harlan UK is currently housing the entire macaque breeding colony from Oxford University. This is a contract which could last for up to two years whilst the University builds a new primate facility. When the primates were being transported the short distance from Oxford University to Leicestershire, one male and one nursing female died en route. Our investigator was told that they had been over-sedated. |
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