Caged ‘Monkeys’ to Philippine Airlines: Stop Shipping Us to Our Deaths in Laboratories
Airline One of the Last in the World to Profit From Cruel and Deadly Trade
For Immediate Release:
May 15, 2013
Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382
San Francisco — Wearing prisoner suits and monkey masks, crouching in stacked cages, and holding signs that read, “Philippine Airlines Ships Monkeys for Deadly Experiments” and “Cruelty Shouldn’t Fly,” six PETA members will make a plea for animals’ lives outside Philippine Airlines’ U.S. headquarters in San Francisco on Thursday. PETA’s affiliate in Asia will be protesting at the airline’s international headquarters in Manila on the same day.
When: Thursday, May 16, 12 noon
Where: Philippine Airlines offices, 447 Sutter St. (near the intersection with Powell Street), San Francisco
The action is in protest of the company’s policy of shipping primates to laboratories, a practice that all but three major airlines have abandoned. Documents obtained by PETA indicate that Philippine Airlines recently shipped 190 macaque monkeys in tiny crates from Indonesia to Los Angeles. Once there, they were trucked more than 4,000 miles before winding up at the University of Washington for use in cruel and deadly experiments.
“Philippine Airlines is out of step with the rest of the industry and apparently has no problem adding primate torture to its balance sheet,” says PETA Director of Laboratory Investigations Justin Goodman. “Philippine Airlines is every bit as responsible for the pain, suffering, and death that these animals are subjected to as the experimenters who wield the syringes, drills, and scalpels.”
Following pressure from PETA, many of the largest and best-known carriers in the world, including Air China, China Eastern, Vietnam Airlines, United, and American Airlines, now refuse to ship primates to laboratories. This change has resulted in a 40 percent decrease in the number of primates imported by U.S. laboratories over the past five years.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
