… into Primate Products. Alert readers may recall the horrifying photos of mutilated monkeys at this facility that were leaked earlier this year. Shockingly, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was looking for somewhere to "retire" a group of owl monkeys who had been used in experiments, it couldn't seem to think of a better place than a company that is in the business of ripping monkeys away from their homes in the wild and making restraint devices for them to be tormented in.

Yes, you may well scratch your head. Incredibly, it gets worse. According to the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF), Primate Products—apparently after unsuccessfully looking for a buyer—callously gave the monkeys to a horrendous roadside zoo, Everglades Outpost, apparently without bothering to ascertain whether or not the zoo had the space or the know-how to properly care for the monkeys. Turns out that it doesn't seem to have either.

pelican/CC by 2.0

Owl monkeys mate for life, prefer to live in small family groups (parents and offspring), are very territorial, and can become easily stressed if their living conditions are disturbed. Any disruption can lead to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and even heart attacks. According to reports from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspections—which resulted in the agency citing Everglades Outpost for multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act—after 61 of the monkeys were delivered to Everglades Outpost and carelessly placed into group cages, 11 died within hours, and nine more died within several days. Primate Products was apparently so disinterested in whether the zoo could care for the monkeys that it transferred 31 more there a week later, and six were dead within two days.

The USDA inspection report concludes that Everglades Outpost demonstrated "a lack of knowledge and experience regarding basic housing and social needs of this species" and that "the sudden group housing … caused overt behavior stress and physical trauma."

ARFF is demanding a full investigation, and PETA has called on the CDC—which has also purchased monkeys from Primate Products for use in experiments—to follow the lead of other organizations that are horrified by Primate Products' callousness and cruelty and cut ties with this abusive facility once and for all.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Horrifying photos that were apparently shot inside primate importer and torture-device manufacturer Primate Products, Inc., have recently surfaced. These photos show the consequences of animal experimentation—monkeys whose scalps and skulls have been butchered and crudely stitched up and who suffered from other injuries that appear to be from fighting or self-mutilation. Monkeys often bite at their own limbs and tear out clumps of their own hair because of the trauma of being confined, deprived, and tormented while being used as living test tubes.

Bite Back Magazine has posted all of the images on its website.

PETA's friends at the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeking an investigation into whether the photos show violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. We'll keep you posted, but in the meantime, please help cut off the supply of primates to laboratories.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Yesterday, Nanci Alexander—one of our most generous and tireless friends to animals—joined a myriad of PETA supporters in D.C. to cut the ribbon and officially open the doors to PETA's Washington home, The Nanci Alexander Center for Animal Rights:

© Leigh Vogel

Nanci, whom Ingrid E. Newkirk describes as "an animal rights activist's activist," is the woman to whom Newkirk dedicated her book One Can Make a Difference. She is also the founder of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida and the creator of Fort Lauderdale's fabulous all-vegan world cuisine restaurant Sublime, where Sir Paul McCartney and Steve-O have enjoyed meals, and as Ingrid says, if George Bernard Shaw and the Buddha were alive, you'd find them eating there too. She was among the first to spark debate over SeaWorld's horrible confinement of killer whales and dolphins and was also behind Florida's pig gestation-crate ban.

Finding herself seated next to President Bush the elder one day, Nanci asked him to do one thing: think about the suffering of the animals he shoots. If everyone spoke up that way, the world would be a far kinder place. Nanci has devoted her life to waking people up to cruelty to animals and changing everything from what they think to what they eat. PETA plans to do great things from the building now named after her.

Written by Logan Scherer