The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "veterinary" ...
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Off Track: Clandestine Racing in California
This story delved into an unknown world of illegal and clandestine horse racing happening on private tracks throughout the state of California. The straight-track races occur on properties throughout the state. KCRA uncovered a world where drug deals, prostitution, illegal gambling and animal cruelty are the norm. KCRA got the point of view of investigators and a veterinary scientist who found that horses were being dosed with mixtures of cocaine and methamphetamine. Added to this was the fact that few local law enforcement know it's happening and state investigators don't have the resources to stop the racing from happening.
Tags: Horse racing; drug deals; prostituion; gambling; animal abuse; veterinary science; cocaine; methamphetamine
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Danger on Your Plate
The Center for Investigative Reporting hired the food analysis lab of the Sarajevo Veterinary School to test food samples purchased in farmers' markets, food shops and stalls to determine food safety. Center reporters found problems with contamination, government inspection, labeling, waste, and NGO's that collect money but "really do little to guard consumers against bad food."
Tags: food safety; Mad Cow Disease; CIN; Linking Agricultural Markets to Producers; LAMP; E.coli; proteus; alfotoxins; bacteria; fungi; food handling; TRACES animal tracking; smuggling; World Health Organization; Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations; EU
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Uncomfortably Numb
Lethal injection procedures have been largely unchanged - and unexamined - since the method was pioneered in the mid-1970s. It is possible that a condemned inmate might awaken during the lethal injection procedure, but because of the injection's paralytic agent, no observer would notice. The combination of two of the drugs used by executioners in Missouri and many other states has been condemned by the American Medical Veterinary Association for use in animal euthanasia.
Tags: lethal injection; death penalty
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Dominican Gold Rush
The series looks at how young baseball hopefuls from the Dominican Republic become targets for abuse by "buscones," or independent scouts or agents who take a cut of the potentially huge signing bonuses from American major league teams. Buscones encourage young players to drop out of school and, in some cases, encourage them to take harmful veterinary nutrients as cheap substitutes for anabolic steroids.
Tags: major league baseball; steroids; minor leagues; sports agents; scouts; Arizona Diamondbacks
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Pattern of Mistakes Found in Zoo Deaths
This investigation uncovered years of neglect, misdiagnosis and other mistakes that caused or contributed to 23 animal deaths at the National Zoo. Zoo euthanasia forms weren't kept when animal went into surgery and the keepers couldn't provide any notes about two rare zebras that starved to death. Veterinary records show that zoo vets did not respond promptly when animals were ill and failed to run standard tests on animals to make sure they were healthy.
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Veterinary care without the bite
The story revealed excesses in veterinary care. "Veterinarians have been raising fees at more than twice the rate of overall inflation, pushing expensive and sometimes unproven procedures and fighting to maintain a lock on overpriced pet drugs". Tips for consumers to save thousands of dollars on their pet's care.
Tags: veterinarian; pet insurance; spay; pet
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Animal Wrongs
An investigation into the San Diego Department of Animal Control practices and the attitude of its director, Dr. Dena Mangiamele towards animal care procedures and relations with local Animal Welfare Foundations. Internal conflicts between workers and management, misconducts towards the animals and abusive in-shelter killings are reported.
Tags: FOIA; animal shelter; veterinary; animal rescue; animal euthanasia; San Diego County Veterinary Medical Association
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Trouble at the Track
The Star-Ledger investigates "the illegal medication of horses in New Jersey standardbred (harness) racing." The reporter points out that the subject is known within the industry but rarely discussed publicly even by racing magazines. The series' main findings are that doping is common, the tests to detect it are inadequate, and other measures such as random barn checks are not being implemented. "The state agency charged with policing the sport had allowed many of its drug offenders top continue racing as their cases dragged through appeals," the investigation reveals.
Tags: New Jersey Racing Commission; FOIA requests; veterinary treatment; trainers; horses
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Destined to Die
An Indianapolis Star investigation into the city animal care reveals a stunning picture: thousands of animals are being killed every year, stray cats and dogs do not receive adequate veterinary care, and while the euthanasia rates are dropping in other communities, they are rising in Indianapolis. The city and the Humane society officials resist proposals that could save animals. "While the killing continues, the Humane Society sits on a huge pot of money that makes the charity one of the wealthiest of its size in the country," the Star reports.
Tags: pet adoption; charity; shelters; spay-neuter clinics; animal welfare; CAR; FOI requests; FOIA; euthanasia; sterilization
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The Monkey Series: Shock the Monkeys; The Brain Gain; The Spy Who Loved Monkeys; Monkey in the Middle; Year of the Monkey
Willamette Week investigated a whistleblower's claims of inhumane treatment of research monkeys at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center. Some of the stories shed light on "a controversial procedure for collecting rhesus semen samples, known as electro-ejaculation," which has later been modified. Another part of the series profiles a researcher who examines what causes depression by using primates. A third part focuses on how an undercover observer documented the use of kittens for hearing-problems and deafness research, the atrocities taking place at a fox farm, and the cruel training of elephants for circus purposes.
Tags: animal care; medical records; undercover investigations; behavioral psychology; animal rights; ethics; sperm gathering; veterinary medicine; public records requests; biotechnology; PETA; vegetarians; reproduction biology