NEW VIDEO: Days-Old Monkeys Tormented in Tests at UW Primate Center

For Immediate Release:
October 12, 2026

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Never-before-seen video obtained by PETA and released today offers a first-ever look at experiments conducted on infant monkeys at the University of Washington’s (UW) Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC)—where generation after generation of baby monkeys have been tormented in experiments since 1976.

The disturbing footage, obtained through a public records request, shows infant monkeys who were exposed to a neurotoxin in utero, taken from their mothers after birth, and subjected to repeated neurological tests—starting when some were just two days old. Deprived of the necessary nurturing they would receive from their mothers, the frightened infants cling to blankets and suck on their fingers.

The footage shows experimenters shaving the newborn babies’ heads, attaching electrodes to their skin, and putting them through test after test to assess whether the neurotoxin damaged their developing brains enough to make them tremble. The experiments continued for months and sometimes years.

These experiments ended in 2020, but UW did not stop experimenting on baby monkeys. Babies continue to be taken from their mothers, deliberately infected with diseases, and ultimately killed.

 Experimenters attach electrodes to a baby monkey’s head as part of a cruel and misguided attempt to understand how a neurotoxin affects human brains. Obtained by PETA through a public records request.

“These monkeys are so young they still have the distinctive black fur of newborn macaques, yet instead of clinging to their mothers, they grasp blankets on metal laboratory tables as experimenters shave their heads and attach electrodes to their bodies,” says PETA Chief Science Advisor on Primate Issues Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel. “When the primate center says it conducts ‘scientific research,’ this abuse of infant monkeys is what it means—and it’s clearly time to close the primate center.”

The footage offers a rare look at the experiments UW has long sought to keep out of public view, sometimes by denying records requests from PETA. In a lawsuit filed by PETA, a King County Superior Court found in 2021 that the university violated the Washington Public Records Act by routinely destroying photos and videos and failing to adequately search for records related to the primate center.

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 Kitsfor people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.