Moving Mountains for Monkeys

As efforts to build new monkey labs and breeding facilities in the U.S. have increased during the past several months, activist groups have taken to the streets, the courtroom and the internet in an effort to block them. Tensions are running high. Following are just a few of the battles being waged by activists on behalf of the monkeys.

FLORIDA
Officials in Hendry County, Florida, already home to two monkey breeding facilities, have approved the construction of two more without soliciting feedback from area residents, a move that violates the state’s Sunshine Law. Florida’s Sunshine Law requires municipalities to hold public hearings on projects that impact local communities. The Animal Legal Defense Fund has filed a lawsuit against Hendry County on behalf of angry residents.

Monkey breeding facility (Photo: Alon Ron, Haaretz)

Jane Velez-Mitchell of JaneUnchained recently traveled from New York to Florida to report on a court hearing on the case and the civil strife that accompanied it: “Watch as I try to get a comment from Hendry County’s lawyer, and see dozens of angry local residents swarm the county offices demanding answers!”

WASHINGTON
In November, The University of Washington decided to expand its primate research center to increase the number of monkeys it could accommodate. Activists with Campus Animal Rights Educators and No New Animal Lab have been fighting to stop the expansion, pointing to USDA citations, the deaths of several monkeys, including one from starvation, and evidence of a monkey who was euthanized after repeatedly harming himself.

On March 8th, Activists with No New Animal Lab drop a banner over a highway in Seatle

Michael Budkie, President of the anti-vivisection group Stop Animal Exploitation NOW, says that the monkeys are highly stressed by captivity: “I can’t conceptualize the actual mental state of an animal that is so disturbed and mentally abnormal to literally be biting off pieces of his own fingers.”

Monkeys, who are highly social animals, are driven insane by lab experiments and intensive confinement

MARYLAND
Since 1980, NIH researchers have used public funds to conduct maternal deprivation and isolation studies on infant monkeys. Video footage of the experiments is so disturbing that four members of Congress sent a letter to the NIH, which is based in Maryland, demanding an explanation. When the lead researcher, Stephen Suomi, made a presentation at the University of Michigan, activists disrupted his remarks four times to raise awareness of his barbaric experiments.

In a fascinating interview with Justin Goodman, PETA’s Director of Laboratory Investigations, Jane Velez-Mitchell shines a spotlight on Suomi’s studies and the deception that has enabled NIH researchers to spend 30 years and tens of millions of U.S. tax dollars on these experiments that have done nothing to improve human health.

NIH maternal deprivation study

The plight of animals in society is often ignored by the mainstream media. Given the enormity of the problem, the issues don’t receive the attention they deserve. That is what prompted Jane Velez-Mitchell to launch her own initiative to be the media for animals – JaneUnChained. But doing it on her own is unsustainable over the long term. Please see how you can help her be a permanent voice for the animals.