Meet the Baboons Killed by Gerald Pepe

In nature, olive baboons live in large, complex social groups consisting of 30 to 100 individuals. They travel 2 to 5 miles each day, traversing varied terrain, interacting with their dynamic environment, and eating a diverse array of foods. They spend up to 20% of their day grooming one another, an activity that helps cultivate and strengthen social bonds.

But in Gerald Pepe’s laboratory at Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), these highly intelligent and profoundly social animals are confined alone to barren metal cages.

In Pepe’s laboratory, infants are taken away from dozens of mother baboons and hundreds of female baboons have been violated in experiments. PETA called on EVMS and its Board of Visitors to release four surviving mother baboons to a sanctuary, where they would have enjoyed a peaceful life, but Pepe secretively killed them, depriving them of the one chance they had for some semblance of freedom. Take action here to help stop him from ever harming any animal again.

Jemma

Jemma was 6 years old in 2011, when she arrived at EVMS from the Southwest National Primate Research Center. Caged in near-constant isolation and deprived of everything that’s natural and important to her species, she began pulling out her hair and biting on cage bars—behavior indicative of extreme psychological distress. Records reveal the extent of her suffering, documenting skin lesions, genital tears, and traumatic injuries, including missing fingers.

She briefly found solace when one of the many babies she was forced to carry by experimenters, a boy named Boo, was with her for a few short months. But he was torn away from her in 2018 at just 8 months of age, and then Jemma resumed harming herself. Records obtained by PETA document that, at 5 years of age, Boo was shipped to Eugene Albrecht’s laboratory at the University of Maryland–Baltimore. Albrecht and Pepe have worked together for more than 40 years, carrying out invasive and deadly experiments on baboons.

In 2019 and 2020, Jemma was subjected to two cesarean sections, both performed in the first trimester of her pregnancies. Just one year later, she was impregnated again. She was injected daily with a drug known to induce seizures in animals, and on at least one occasion, a lab worker found her unresponsive after the drug had been administered. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection report, procedures outlining what should be done in such an emergency were reportedly in place, but there are no records to indicate that they were followed. The report also indicated that there were no records of Jemma having received any veterinary treatment at all. She recovered from the seizure and then underwent a third C-section two days later. This one was performed “near term,” and her female baby was killed after the surgery.

Jemma was killed on February 13, 2024.

Cookie

Cookie was purchased from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) in 2020, when she was 15 years old. Used as a “breeder,” she was repeatedly impregnated, and her babies were repeatedly taken away from her. While at OUHSC, she endured four abortions and seven live births. Following her transfer to EVMS, she experienced weight fluctuations and her laboratory results indicated cardiomyopathy and a red blood cell disorder.

Cookie was killed on March 21, 2024.

Tara and Toya

Tara and Toya were both transferred from Texas Biomedical Research Institute to EVMS when they were 6 years old in 2011. Tara’s records include notations on extensive hair loss, cage bar chewing, overgrooming, and partial finger amputations. During a 10-week period in 2017, she was sedated at least 26 times for blood draws and experimental manipulations, and she was forced to endure three vaginal biopsies over the course of six weeks in 2018. The majority of her babies died or were killed. Her only viable baby was taken from her the day he was born.

Tara was killed on March 21, 2024.

Toya suffered from painful dental issues caused by thin tooth enamel and enlarged gums, and these conditions required multiple dental exams and tooth extractions. She sustained injuries to her hands as a result of fights with other stressed, deprived cagemates. Out of six pregnancies, only two of Toya’s babies survived, and they were both taken from her. Of the ones who didn’t survive, one died and another was killed in utero; she miscarried one, and one was found dead at a week old.

Toya was killed on February 13, 2024.

EVMS is the only university in Virginia that imprisons nonhuman primates in its laboratories, and an unknown number of primates remain there. Please join PETA in advocating for the immediate dismissal of Pepe—who, at 81 years of age, has spent more than 40 years torturing sensitive baboons and possibly other animals as well. Together, let’s ensure that he’s held accountable and will no longer pose a threat to any sentient being.