In late April 2025, days after U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, claims (archived) recirculated online that Thanedar had abandoned dogs and monkeys at his New Jersey testing lab after the business defaulted on its loans in 2010.
Libs of TikTok, a network of far-right social media accounts, wrote on X: "OMG. Shri Thanedar, the Democrat Rep who filed impeachment charges against Trump, reportedly left over 150 dogs and monkeys to starve to death at an abandoned NJ testing lab that HE OWNED. This is the guy who wants to impeach Trump. Unbelievable."
The claim also circulated on Facebook (archived), Threads (archived), Bluesky (archived) and TikTok (archived). Snopes readers also wrote in and searched our site asking whether the claim was true.
The claim centered around a 2010 lawsuit in which Bank of America sued six of Thanedar's businesses after they defaulted on loan payments. One of these businesses, AniClin Preclinical Services, allegedly housed 118 beagles and 55 monkeys that it used for animal testing.
Thanedar told multiple U.S. news outlets in 2018, when the case resurfaced during his run for governor of Michigan, that Bank of America was responsible for caring for the animals and that he had "no idea" what happened to them after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, which heard the case, appointed a receiver to manage business decisions for the six companies in the lawsuit.
Court documents, however, showed that Thanedar's company "ignored" repeated offers from Bank of America for it to continue to care for the animals at the bank's expense. Lawyers for Thanedar later attempted to block a motion by lawyers for the court-appointed receiver to place the animals with sanctuaries, insisting they be sold instead.
We reached out to Thanedar's office to ask if he stood by his 2018 statements that Bank of America was responsible for looking after the animals at AniClin. We also reached out to MorrisAnderson, the court-appointed receiver for Thandar's businesses, to ask whose responsibility it believed the welfare of the animals to be at the time. We await their replies.
The animals at AniClin — listed in court documents as "approximately 120 dogs and 55 monkeys" — eventually found new homes through local animal rescues and sanctuaries, according to local media reports at the time.
Dogs and monkeys in limbo for months
Thanedar told the Detroit Free Press in 2018 that "the bank took over and this thing happened three months later," referring to the animals being placed with sanctuaries. Thanedar added: "What happened in those three months, I have no idea."
He further told HuffPost in 2018: "It is my understanding that Bank of America made arrangements to assign caretakers for the animals and secure homes for them, but those decisions came from the bank after I left the company. I am an animal lover and completely understand the sensitivity of this issue."
The animals at AniClin first appeared in court documents on June 14, 2010, more than two months after the court appointed MorrisAnderson as receiver. In the filing, MorrisAnderson asked the court to authorize placing "approximately 120 dogs and 55 monkeys" with various animal sanctuaries.
Lawyers for Thanedar's businesses initially opposed this motion, saying the animals were worth "between $189,000.00 to $445,000.00" and should be sold "for the benefit of the creditors," meaning to reduce Thanedar's businesses' debt.
Lawyers for Bank of America responded that the objection was "unreasonable and insincere." A filing on June 22, 2010, revealed they had originally offered to let AniClin continue to care for the animals at the facility at Bank of America's expense, but AniClin had "ignored" the bank's proposals. AniClin had also "refused every opportunity to place the Animals itself," according to Bank of America's lawyers.
The June 22 filing cast doubt on Thanedar's statement that he had "no idea" what happened to the animals after MorrisAnderson's receivership started.
Lawyers for Thanedar's businesses eventually withdrew their opposition and the court approved the placement of the animals with the sanctuaries on June 30, 2010.
Thanedar told Bridge Michigan in 2018, "To my knowledge, no such offer was ever received. My company, not the bank, paid the salaries of the animal care workers and paid for food and supplies for the facilities after receivership."
Differing accounts of state of AniClin's animals
Court documents and reporting on the 2010 lawsuit paint conflicting pictures of how the suit affected the animals held at AniClin.
During Feb. 22, 2011, testimony Daniel Dooley, the CEO of MorrisAnderson, said:
First, there was a business in New Jersey called AniClin. It was an animal test facility. That was in incredibly bad shape. We had monkeys and beagles, dogs, that were starving. We actually — before we were authorized as receiver, I would personally put up money in our own pocket to feed the animals so that they didn't starve.
When asked about this testimony by Bridge Michigan in 2018, Thanedar said: "To my knowledge, Mr. Dooley did not visit the AniClin facility prior to the receivership taking over, so I do not understand how he can make such a statement."
Thanedar added that "all of the animals were saved, cared for and taken to animal shelters thanks to the tireless efforts of animal care organizations, activists and others involved."
Meanwhile, a July 18, 2010, news report quoted an animal rescuer saying that the beagles taken from the facility were "in quite good health." A separate report cited by the Detroit Free Press, however, said the monkeys were "pale and thin" when they arrived at their sanctuary home.
With so many differing accounts it is impossible to fully ascertain whether Thanedar's handling of the 2010 suit amounted to abandonment of the animals at AniClin, or whether it caused them hardship. What court documents did show was that lawyers for Thanedar's businesses first failed to respond to proposals for AniClin to care for the animals at Bank of America's expense, and then slowed efforts to get the animals to sanctuaries by insisting they be sold instead — all while Thanedar claimed he had no idea what happened to the animals after MorrisAnderson took charge of his businesses.