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The cost of laboratory animals accounted for just 15 percent of an experiment's cost. He could charge more for them because the models were worth the extra expense to researchers. Germfree laboratory animals proved to be a good business for Foster. Over the years, the company would also build a fleet of climate-controlled trucks to deliver the animals and eventually build facilities within trucking distance of all the major pharmaceutical houses. Moreover, as employees entered a barrier room, the air would be automatically sprayed to kill any flying insects that might happen in. Violating rules against bringing in unsterilized items was grounds for immediate dismissal. Workers fastidiously showered and wore sterile coveralls, plastic gloves, surgical masks, and caps. Once produced on a large scale, Foster's disease-free rats would be kept in barrier rooms, the integrity of which were maintained by a number of precautions. It was Foster who turned the technique into a commercial venture. The pups were then delivered by caesarean section and immediately placed in a sterile, germfree environment. Mother rats were "sacrificed" by breaking their necks just before they were to give birth. A technique had already been developed, but it was confined to university laboratories. The obvious need was for a germfree rat, one that provided researchers with a reasonable chance to control their experiments. They simply could not be certain that a subject was reacting to a test substance or that the symptoms were actually caused by an infection acquired at the rat farm. At the time, researchers were severely handicapped by a lack of control over the microorganisms that each rat might carry. That was also when he established himself as a pioneer in the breeding of laboratory animals. In 1952 Foster moved his business to the country, setting up his cages in Wilmington, some 20 miles north of Boston. They especially disliked the smells that his exhaust fans, particularly in the summer, blew into their apartments. Over the next few years, as Foster expanded his rat colonies, the criticism of his neighbors also grew. He did not have a secretary until he married Lois Bronstein, who not only had to overcome her family's doubts about her husband's profession, she also had to overcome her own aversion to rats in order to reach her desk. He cared for the animals, called on customers, and completed his own paperwork. In 1947 when he began Charles River Breeding, Foster was the only employee of the company. After some difficulty in finding a landlord willing to rent to an aspiring rat breeder, he was able to secure a second-story loft in the West End of Boston, a seedy part of the city at the time. Foster paid $12,000 for the cages and animals, which he then moved to Boston. While searching for a place to establish a practice he visited the Sunny Hill Rat Farm in Clinton, Maryland, whose owner convinced him to buy out the business. After graduating in 1946, he saved up money to start his own business by working as a vet on ships transporting horses to Poland.
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Instead he opted for a more practical education and attended Middlesex Veterinary College. He studied piano as a child and almost attended the Juilliard School of Music. Foster, was the son of a Boston garment manufacturer. The ancestor of today's holding company was Charles River Breeding Laboratories. After operating as a subsidiary of Bausch & Lomb for 15 years, the company is now independently run, the result of a 1999 management buyout arranged by the investment firm of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (now Credit Suisse First Boston), which owns more than 45 percent of the company's stock. With its headquarters located in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Charles River Laboratories operates more than 50 facilities in 15 countries, selling to a customer base in 50 countries. The company also supports researchers by developing and maintaining laboratory animal colonies, as well as providing staffing services on a contract basis. Services now include drug safety assessment and testing, biotech safety testing, and medical device testing. It offers such biomedical products as hamster ova and mouse embryos, pathogen-free chicken eggs, and an antibody test kit. Animal sales still account for approximately 62 percent of revenues, although the company, in operation for more than 50 years, has made significant strides in diversifying its business. is the holding company for Charles River Laboratories, Inc., which is a leading provider of laboratory animals used in preclinical experiments by the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.