Taser CEO and VP Caught Shocking Pigs in Secret Garage Experiments
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PETA has uncovered disturbing evidence that two top-level officials of the Phoenix-based stun-gun manufacturer Taser International may have violated the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) by conducting secret experiments on animals.
Taser Research and Development Vice President Max Nerheim testified in a sworn deposition in Arizona Superior Court in May that he and Taser International’s CEO, Rick Smith, repeatedly shocked live pigs with Taser stun guns on two separate occasions in 2002. According to Nerheim, the first occurrence took place during the fall of 2002 in his home garage, and the second took place several months later at an unnamed “horse facility” in Phoenix.
PETA believes these tests violate the AWA and wrote a letter asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate the charges and, if they are confirmed, to prosecute Smith, Nerheim, and all others responsible to the fullest extent of the law.
According to the USDA document “Licensing and Registration Under the Animal Welfare Act: Guidelines for Dealers, Exhibitors, Transporters, and Researchers”:
Institutions using any regulated live animals for research, testing, teaching, or experimentation must register with the USDA as “research facilities.” … Individual researchers and their attending veterinarians should make sure their institution is legally registered and all USDA regulations and standards are followed.
Taser International is not registered as a “research facility” with the USDA. Nerheim testified that he did not believe research proposals were submitted to any regulatory agency, as required by the AWA. This implies that the USDA did not give Nerheim and Smith authorization to conduct these secret experiments.
The AWA requires researchers to be registered with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and to submit protocols to regulatory agencies in order to prevent the researchers and others from committing acts of cruelty to animals. These are basic tenets of the AWA. Yet it appears that the Taser officials chose to ignore these regulations in serious violation of the law.
Enough is enough! Please help us stop these cruel and unnecessary experiments before more animals are forced to suffer for Taser International.
