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In a shocking new development in the MonkeyGate scandal in Hendry County, Florida, a former employee of Primate Products told WinkNews in an exclusive interview that vet technicians cut fetuses out of pregnant monkeys and sold the organs. His allegations dovetail with documents obtained by the TV station.

Macaque monkeys (photo: BUAV)

David Roebuck, who was a vet tech with Primate Products, said that he resigned from the company in disgust when he was asked to vacuum pack and freeze the livers, lungs, kidneys and brains of the aborted monkeys. Mr. Roebuck also said he was shocked to discover that the invasive surgeries were being performed by vet techs, not veterinarians.

David Roebuck resigned from Primate Products when he learned that fetuses were being cut out of pregnant monkies

Mr. Roebuck also said that vet techs killed the fetuses to prevent them from being born alive. Nursing infants, he explained, would reduce the supply of monkey milk that Primate Products has available to sell. On its website, Primate Products advertises “serum, plasma, and tissue samples from cynomolgus macaques and rhesus macaques.”

Primate Products is located on land zoned for “agricultural” use. Residents assert that conducting any procedure, much less invasive and lethal surgeries, constitutes a clear violation.

County officials have not yet announced what course of action they will take against Primate Products, but residents are demanding that the County halt the construction of several new buildings which would reportedly house between 5,000 – 14,000 additional monkeys. Hendry County residents only learned about this massive expansion when the organization Drones for Animal Defense released aerial footage. Residents are now conferring with lawyers to determine whether to seek an injunction or pursue other legal avenues to curb the expansion.

Drone footage of Monkey Breeding Facility under construction in Hendry County, FL

Primera Science Center is one of two monkey breeding facilities approved behind closed doors by Hendry County officials

Resident of Hendry County attend public meetings to air their opposition to the new monkey breeding facilities

1. Ask Hendry County’s five commissioners to stop the construction of the Primate Product expansion: bocc1@hendryfla.net, bocc2@hendryfla.net, bocc3@hendryfla.net, bocc4@hendryfla.net, bocc5@hendryfla.net

2. Tweet #MonkeyGate with this article and your thoughts on importing more monkeys into Florida to be bred for lab experiments.

“You’re scaring my child,” said one mother as she passed activists with posters showing abused elephants. She attempted to cover her son’s eyes and ears to protect him from the images and chants, but she only had two hands.

Another mother gave the finger to an activist who showed her an actual bullhook, the weapon used to beat elephants into submission or, as Ringling describes it, an “accepted elephant husbandry tool.”

Braving the elements on behalf of the elephants (photo: Miriam Lucille)

Children look at the images; parents look the other way (photos: Miriam Lucille)

One ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman with seven young children appeared stunned when an activist said, “The Torah prohibits Jews from causing Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim (unnecessary physical or psychological pain to any living creature). With a guilty look, she said she “didn’t know” when told that baby elephants are “kidnapped from their mothers” in the circus.

Such were the interactions between protesters and customers during opening night of Ringling Bros. Circus in New York City. Jane Velez-Mitchell of JaneUnchained was there to report.

If one state lawmaker has his way, elephant performances will banned in New York. In January, Senator Brad Hoylman introduced a bill to prohibit the use of whips, bullhooks and chains on elephants. Without these weapons, Ringling cannot control the elephants, making it impossible to force them to perform.

Bullhooks are weapons used to force animals to perform tricks (photo: Miriam Lucille)

New York would not be the first place to ban circus elephants. In October 2013, the Los Angeles Times reported that “the City Council asked the city attorney’s office to prepare an ordinance outlawing the use of the bullhook. Baseball bats, ax handles, pitchforks and other implements used on the pachyderms would also be banned.” The ordinance takes effect in 2017. In December 2014, lawmakers in Oakland, California, voted to ban the use of bull hooks, and that law also takes effect in 2017. Elephant acts in circuses are already banned in Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Slovenia, Cyprus, Greece, Paraguay, Columbia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Elephants perform tricks to avoid punishment.

Elephants are stored in boxcars when traveling between cities (Photo: PETA)

Elephants are among the most intelligent and social animals on the planet. In the wild, they live in herds, raise their children and travel long distances. In captivity, they are deprived of the chance to do anything that comes naturally to them; they live in constant fear; and are stored in cramped boxcars for days at a time while traveling between cities. They are also beaten into submission, as has been documented many times during undercover investigations conducted by animal rights organizations.

Please visit One Green Planet to learn five ways you can help end the use of animals in circuses.

Primera Management, a company that cannot be traced, is attempting to build a large monkey breeding facility in Central Florida over objections of the State Senator who represents the area. Monkeys from Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa, will be transported to the facility in Hendry County, where they will be bred and sold to laboratories. Animal Defenders International released footage of monkeys in Mauritius being abused, though Primera insists that their monkeys will come from a different, unnamed source. Citing health, safety and animal care concerns, the Senator is demanding a public hearing with all stakeholders, including the Center for Disease Control.

Who is behind this primate breeding facility? Who is accountable if monkeys escape or disease is transmitted? Given the environmental and land-use issues associated with a 3,000 monkey facility, why is it being constructed without so much as a public hearing? As a starting point, please thank Florida State Senator Dwight Bullard for attempting to stop the construction of this facility until the community has answers. And stay tuned for more information as advocacy groups put together the pieces of the puzzle.