Federal Citations Re: Monkey’s Burst Lung, Amputations, and Neglect at Biomere: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
May 11, 2026

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Chief Science Advisor for Primate Experimentation, Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, regarding just-posted U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) citations against Biomedical Research Models (Biomere) for multiple Animal Welfare Act violations. The violations, occurring on multiple dates and involving 16 monkeys, include a monkey who had to be euthanized after staff misconfigured an anesthesia machine causing his body to distend until the lung finally burst; six monkeys who suffered severe hand injuries during cage cleaning that led to partial finger amputations; a monkey whose hand swelled up after becoming trapped in an unlatched cage door; seven monkeys subjected to spinal fluid draws were not given required pain relief; and a monkey who staff deprived of food and sedated without explanation:

Biomere should be closed down because monkeys are paying with their bodies and their lives for repeated, preventable failures that cause immense suffering endured during pointless experiments. This glimpse inside one facility underscores the widespread suffering inherent in animal experimentation, which is why PETA urges the public to ask their members of Congress to co-sponsor the PRIMATE Act to end the importation of monkeys that supply laboratories such as Biomere.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.