Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company specializing in a variety of preclinical and clinical laboratory, gene therapy and cell therapy services for the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries. It also supplies assorted biomedical products, outsourcing services, and animals for research and development in the pharmaceutical industry and offers support in the fields of basic research, drug discovery, safety and efficacy, clinical support, and manufacturing. Its customers include leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrochemical, government, and academic organization around the globe. The company has over 150 facilities, operates in 21 countries, and employs over 21,000 people worldwide. Charles River Laboratories is often criticized by animal rights activists, who condemn the company's use of dogs and non-human primates for pharmaceutical research. The company is also a major harvester of blood from horseshoe crabs. Wikipedia