For Immediate Release:
March 17, 2023
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
Houston – Please see the following statement from PETA primate scientist Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel regarding the 1,000 monkeys illegally brought into the U.S. who continue to be held at Charles River Laboratories facilities:
Charles River Laboratories must pay for the transfer to an accredited sanctuary and lifetime care of the 1,000 endangered monkeys it imported illegally and currently holds caged in its Texas and Maryland laboratories. Our efforts have kept these monkeys in the U.S., but their future is uncertain. We have no assurance that this profit-driven company, now facing both civil and criminal investigations, won’t quietly load the frightened monkeys onto a flight to Cambodia so as to bleed every last dollar out of them. The U.S. government also bears responsibility, as it has contracted with Charles River for years, awarding the massive animal supplier more than $100 million to operate several of its animal laboratories, including the National Institutes of Health’s huge primate prison in Poolesville, Maryland. PETA and Born Free USA continue to work for the release of the monkeys, and we urge the government to take immediate action to demand their safe release to an accredited sanctuary. The public can contact U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service here.
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