LAV appointed legal guardian of the animals, who are now safe
The Public Prosecutor's Office has completed its preliminary investigation into the multinational pharmaceutical company Aptuit, entering a veterinarian and the former president of the company, as suspects.
The charges are extremely serious: cruelty to animals and unnecessary killing, offences punishable by up to 18 months in prison or a fine of up to 30,000 and imprisonment for up to two years.
This news comes three years after we first reported the arrival of a consignment of beagle dogs at Aptuit, a multi-million-euro multinational company based in Verona (177 million in 2022) that carries out animal testing on behalf of international pharmaceutical companies.
We filed two complaints with the Carabinieri Forestali, asking for a thorough inspection of the enclosure. We then acted on several fronts, organising a national demonstration with the participation of many animal rights activists, as well as a motion signed by the city council, which committed the mayor of Verona to "demand the release of the dogs currently being used in research by the Aptuit company".
Thanks to our requests and the pressure we put on the Carabinieri Forestali of Verona, at the end of October 2021, the Public Prosecutor's Office ordered inspections of the company, which in April 2022 led to the confiscation of 7 beagle dogs, all the marmosets and 7 Java macaques who were held at Aptuit at the time of the inspection, and the opening of an investigation.
In 2022, we became the legal guardian of the 7 beagles, 7 macaques and 11 monkeys, which are currently being cared for and looked after by competent staff in veterinary clinics and rehabilitation centres specialising in exotic species, who are dealing with their complex rehabilitation to compensate for years of physical and psychological abuse.
My wish is that for the time they have left to live, they can live in complete serenity, doing what they were born to do, which is simply to be animals.
Due to the extreme sensitivity of the legal case, which is still ongoing, we have not had permission to disclose any information to allow the Public Prosecution Office to carry out all the necessary investigations to complete the preliminary investigation, which has now been completed, but we have been immediately involved in the recovery and protection of the physical and psychological wellbeing of these animals rescued from the world of vivisection.