We all know dogs or cats who were adopted from an animal shelter or rescued by a kind person. But some pets aren’t as fortunate and wind up in the terrifying world of “Class B” dealers, who buy up animals, transport them to holding facilities and then onto laboratories for use in harmful experiments in an often long and stressful journey.

There are currently seven active Class B dealers in the U.S. who round up thousands of dogs and cats each year and sell them to research facilities. They obtain these pets from flea markets, auctions, shelters, and other so-called "random sources," including from shady middle-men known as bunchers, who often resort to outright theft of pets and misrepresentation when responding to free-to-good-home ads.

Undercover investigations by animal protection organizations and inspections by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (which licenses Class B dealers) have revealed heartbreaking conditions at Class B dealer facilities, such as undernourished, sick dogs and cats living in filth amidst dead animals, receiving little if any veterinary care, and being abused by handlers.

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