Zika Spread Prompts Giant ‘Mosquitoes’ to Highlight Monkey-Prison Danger

PETA Will Give Away Key Chains Warning That Florida’s Massive Monkey Facilities Are Potential Virus Reservoirs

For Immediate Release:
October 24, 2016

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

What:    As the Zika threat in Florida continues to rise—with more than 1,000 cases confirmed so far and a new neighborhood in Miami identified as a Zika transmission zone earlier this month—two giant costumed “mosquitoes” will hit the streets in Miami on Tuesday and lead PETA protesters in giving away key chains, which depict a mosquito looming over the state of Florida and proclaim, “Send More Tourists, Any Blood Type. Fla. Monkey Labs: Zika Breeding Grounds.”

When:    Tuesday, October 25, 12 noon

Where:    901 S. Miami Ave. (near the intersection with S.W. 10^th Street), Miami

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—is calling for the closure of the massive monkey laboratories located in Hendry County, including the Mannheimer Foundation, Bioculture (BC US), Primera, and Primate Products, Inc., where PETA exposed violations of animal-protection regulations. These facilities confine thousands of monkeys to unhygienic, outdoor open-air cages—conditions ripe for mosquito breeding and the infection of large populations of captive monkeys, who then become virus reservoirs.

“Florida’s swampy monkey prisons are rolling out the red carpet for Zika-transmitting mosquitoes,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “PETA’s key chains point out that one key to combating this public health crisis is shutting down these cruel and dangerous facilities immediately.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.