"We were misled by the shipper that the dogs were imported as pets. We have a long standing policy within the company that no animal should be transported for research purposes," Cathay Pacific General Manager, South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Tom Wright told reporters here, responding to a query.
Noting the company has undertaken an investigation into the matter, he said, "it is unfortunate such an incident happened (which is) against our own guidelines".
Early, on December 1, Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan has said "Show cause notice will be given to Advinus Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical lab in Bangalore, based on complaints that 70 Beagles, aged between four to nine months, were imported from China under the title pets, but used for experiments".
However, animal rights advocacy group PETA last week said it has been informed by the Centre that the Beagles "will be freed soon".
