Animal Care

As public support our campaign grows and we rise in the polls, we see more baseless attacks, rumors, distortions and smears on social media and by journalists. Here is our response:

ALLEGATION:

Shri’s business abandoned animals

Facts:

No animals were abandoned or mistreated at any time by Shri’s business. This part of his business was shut down in the Great Recession, however the company retained animal care workers and spent $160,000 over a period of 3 months to take care of the animals, until they were transferred to animal shelter organizations. The company with the help of the company’s animal care workers, found the animal shelter organizations and invited them to come on site and take the animals. When neighbors saw the animal shelter trucks they panicked and began throwing food and water over the fence, not knowing the animals had been well taken care of.

Nearly ten years ago, Shri owned several labs that tested and innovated life-saving medicines. A small part of this work, around 3 percent, involved testing on animals prior to human clinical testing, as required by the FDA. This process is far from ideal, but the testing is a necessary part of the process that brings medical breakthroughs from conception to reality in order to save lives. At no time in this process were animals mistreated in any way. In fact, the company went above and beyond protocols mandated by the FDA to ensure the animals were treated well.

As a business owner and candidate for governor, Shri knows that the ultimate responsibility for any organization – whether it’s running a business or leading a state government – begins and ends with its leader. Shri takes that responsibility seriously and hopes people will see that he has been open, honest and fully engaged in helping bring a safe resolution to this situation.

As governor, Shri will urge the scientific community to find a drug development process in which animal testing is minimized or eliminated altogether. Shri plans to make grants available  to researchers to help minimize animal testing.