Supreme Court Permanently Shuts Down Monkey Prison

January 2012

In the conclusion to a lengthy and hard-fought lawsuit filed by Guayama citizens and PETA, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court determined that Bioculture, Inc.’s monkey-breeding facility in Guayama was constructed illegally and cannot operate, making this the final blow to Bioculture’s plan to capture more than 4,000 wild monkeys, confine them to cages, breed them in Guayama, and sell their offspring to laboratories for use in painful and deadly experiments. The Supreme Court’s decision follows PETA’s successful campaign, which resulted in the approval of two landmark ordinances by the municipality of Guayama banning the import, export, and breeding of monkeys as well as their use in experiments within the town’s boundaries.