Actress, devoted animal advocate and Georgia native Kim Basinger wants the world to know the truth about what happens behind closed doors to dogs acquired from a notorious dog dealer and used in unnecessary, harmful research at Georgia Regents University (GRU).
As the narrator of a shocking new undercover video produced by The Humane Society of the United States, Kim helps call much needed attention to the facility’s relationship with a Class B dealer who has been, for years, under federal investigation for serious animal welfare violations and who was recently formally charged by the USDA with those violations.
Filmed by The HSUS during a 3-month long undercover investigation at GRU, the video exposes the stark reality of life and death in an animal research facility, where dogs, like “Shy Guy” who is featured in the video, are subjected to painful procedures and then ultimately killed – all for the sake of cosmetic dentistry experiments.
GRU and other laboratories have continued to buy dogs and cats from Class B dealers, who round up animals from “random sources” such as auctions and flea markets, despite knowing that such dealers frequently traffic in stolen family pets.
A long-time critic of USDA licensed Class B random source dealers and their unscrupulous dealings, Basinger knows first-hand the trauma of having a pet stolen. In 2011, her niece’s dog was taken in a home robbery.
Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS, said: “Dogs don’t need to die for frivolous dental experiments. It’s painful to watch these forlorn dogs sacrificed for these questionable purposes. And the situation is compounded by the university’s relationship with an unscrupulous animal dealer.”
