Monkey’s Oozing Skull Infection Goes Unnoticed at Johns Hopkins University, Drawing Federal Citation: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
March 31, 2026

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna regarding a just-posted citation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Johns Hopkins University after staff failed to notice a marmoset suffering for at least 48 days with an infection under the device surgically implanted on his head, violating the Animal Welfare Act. The monkey had a head tilt, and his skull was oozing discharge by the time staff noticed. He was killed less than a week later:

Johns Hopkins siphons nearly $1 billion in tax dollars a year, yet it cannot or will not provide the minimum care for the animals it torments in pointless experiments. The university allowed this monkey to go without the required cleaning of the surgical implant site for nearly two months while an infection—common with this type of surgery—grew progressively worse until his skull oozed from an abscess, causing significant and preventable suffering. PETA urges Johns Hopkins to redirect resources toward state-of-the-art, non-animal research methods and get out of the animal-torture business.

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.