Photo Op: PETA ‘Dinos’ to Thank Pres. Trump at Alabama Motorcade and Urge End to Prehistoric Tests on Monkeys

For Immediate Release:
May 1, 2025

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

As President Trump arrives at the University of Alabama to give a commencement speech on Thursday, two PETA “dinosaurs” will greet him with a pair of important messages: “Thank you, President Trump for Cutting Animal Experiments!” and “President Trump: $ave Million$” by shuttering the seven federally funded National Primate Research Centers.

PETA’s action follows a turning point in animal testing under the Trump administration. This week, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) made a groundbreaking decision to reduce experiments on animals and prioritize human-relevant research. Several elements of PETA scientists’ Research Modernization Now strategy were incorporated into NIH’s plan.

The primate centers have killed hundreds of thousands of monkeys for six decades while siphoning billions of taxpayer dollars for experiments that consistently fail to deliver safe and effective vaccines or cures. Bloated and inefficient, they are among the worst drains on NIH-funded studies, inflating NIH grants with outrageous indirect costs. 

“NIH’s announcement will spare animals and advance science, and the next step must be closing all monkey laboratories,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “The National Primate Research Centers are lumbering relics—killing monkeys and torching billions in federal funding on dead-end experiments that hold back real progress.”

Where: University of Alabama Coleman Coliseum, 1201 Coliseum Dr., Tuscaloosa

When: Thursday, May 1, 5:30 p.m.

Credit: PETA

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.

Note: PETA supports animal liberation, opposes all forms of animal exploitation, and educates the public on those issues. PETA does not directly or indirectly participate in or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office or any political party.