PETA Calls For Criminal Probe After Altasciences Staffer Tosses an Endangered Monkey Into the Air and Fails to Catch Him

Yet another gruesome incident at a laboratory contributed to an airtight case to end animal testing, which you can help PETA render extinct: At Altasciences, a scalpel-for-hire contract laboratory based in Everett, Washington, a staffer was seen repeatedly tossing a sedated monkey into the air and then catching the animal, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report.

The staffer missed a catch, and the small long-tailed macaque—an endangered species—dropped to the floor. The force of the impact from the unbroken fall caused bruising around the animal’s face and chin, the report said.

PETA has filed a complaint with local law enforcement, urging an immediate investigation and possible criminal charges.

It’s already difficult to imagine how anyone could participate in the daily violence staffers inflict on animals imprisoned at Altasciences, but to also use the limp body of a sedated monkey as a toy for their own amusement is just sick.

What Happens to Animals at Altasciences?

The company conducts cruel tests on animals for the highest bidder, force-feeding pharmaceutical drugs and industrial chemicals to its nonconsenting victims. In 2022, it used 530 dogs and 3,303 monkeys in experiments while racking up a number of federal Animal Welfare Act violations for troubling incidents, including the following:

• Four monkeys suffered from extensive hair loss, indicative of extreme psychological distress. In one case, a monkey was missing hair over 75% of his body. There “were no medical or behavioral records” showing that these animals were being assessed or treated.
• Beagles yelped in pain after they were injected with a test substance that was found to be substantially more acidic than intended.
• Beagles used in another experiment developed “oral ulcerations, inappetence and lethargy which required veterinary intervention.”
• There was no plan for monitoring, assessing, or treating parasites in dogs and no schedule for monitoring dogs’ hair coat, skin, eyes, or teeth.

PETA urges Altasciences to modernize its laboratories by using sophisticated, non-animal research methods that will actually help humans and to adopt the principles of our Research Modernization Deal.