Pay Attention: Canada Lets in More Endangered Monkeys, Increasing Disease Risk
The U.S. has suspended all shipments of monkeys from Cambodia following indictments by the U.S. Department of Justice against Cambodian government officials and nationals for allegedly abducting monkeys from their forest homes but claiming they were born in captivity so they could sell them to experimenters around the world. However, Canadian officials continue to allow laboratory-bound monkeys from Cambodia into their country. Please take action today to urge Canada to end its involvement in this corrupt and dangerous industry.
Monkey Importer Skirts U.S. Law by Laundering Bio Specimens Through Canada
November 21, 2024
PETA has obtained records proving that Charles River Laboratories will try just about anything to keep its sordid business of selling monkeys afloat. And it seems that the feds are fine with that.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service currently has a de facto ban on importing laboratory-bound monkeys from Cambodia since there’s no way to prove they weren’t illegally kidnapped from forests. But in a cynical and macabre body-part laundering scheme, Charles River has imported into the U.S. tens of thousands of blood samples, tissues, and bodily fluids stolen from Cambodian monkeys by first shipping the endangered animals into Canada.
By flouting the law this way, Charles River is putting two nations at risk from dangerous pathogens and potentially violating international treaties. In a letter sent today, PETA urges Fish and Wildlife to stop enabling this monkey laundering scheme, close this absurd loophole, and seize all Cambodian-origin monkey specimens that have entered the U.S. You can help by taking action here.
Canada’s Anthropology Scholars Take a Stand Against Monkey Importation
November 12, 2024
The Canadian Association for Biological Anthropology released a statement echoing PETA’s sentiments that it “strongly opposes the importation of these endangered long-tail macaques into Canada.” The association explained that Canada cannot be a “safe-haven” for violators of animal import regulations, urged government officials to increase enforcement and penalties, and called for an immediate end to Charles River Laboratories’ flights into Canada.
80 Academics Unite to Fight Canada’s Monkey Flights
November 7, 2024
Prominent Canadian researchers joined PETA’s efforts in urging Canadian officials to ban the importation of endangered monkeys into the country for use in cruel and deadly experiments
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Canada, and the Premier of Quebec, 80 scientists, environmentalists, academics, doctors, and students urge officials to adopt regulations banning the importation of all primates for experimentation due to ethical concerns and potential public health risks.
This effort was featured on the front page of the Montreal Gazette and covered by Canada’s National Observer and the Winnipeg Free Press.
Canadian Members of Parliament Raise PETA’s Concerns to Top Cabinet Ministers
October 28, 2024
After PETA sounded the alarm on the dangers of illegally importing endangered long-tailed macaques into Canada, three members of Parliament echoed our concerns to three Cabinet ministers, informing them that monkey shipments violate multiple laws and international obligations, expose Canada’s failing enforcement of its environmental and transportation regulations, and reveal the public health risks associated with importing primates caught up in the wildlife trade.
The letters direct the minister of transport, the minister of the environment and climate change, and the minister of public safety to take numerous actions, including following:
- Enforce existing laws, focusing on scrutinizing international shipments involving endangered species
- Strengthen penalties for violations in order to deter illegal activities
- Implement safeguards to verify that imported long-tailed macaques were not illegally abducted from forests
- Block illegal shipments of monkeys
We’ve just discovered that the Canadian Transportation Agency has issued a permit for an upcoming shipment of endangered monkeys. Please take action today to urge Canadian officials to intervene and block this shipment from entering Canada:
PETA Primate Scientist Warns Canadian Officials to Wake Up to Monkey Imports
October 14, 2024
PETA primate scientist Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel published an op-ed in The Hill Times, one of Canada’s premier political news sources, calling on members of Parliament to wake up and pay attention to the country’s continued importation of endangered long-tailed macaques from Cambodia. Since the U.S. began denying entry to shipments of Cambodian-origin monkeys, Canada has been deluged by at least 6,000 Cambodian macaques, which, as Dr. Jones-Engel writes, “puts Canada directly in the line of fire for dangerous zoonotic disease.” These shipments only benefit Charles River Laboratories, the sole laboratory registered in Canada to import from Cambodia.
PETA Sends Canadian Prime Minister Greeting Card With Compelling Message
February 29, 2024
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Canadian officials have received greeting cards embedded with PETA’s shocking video “Monkey Trafficking in 60 Seconds Flat” as well as a letter urging them to act immediately to end their country’s involvement in the horrific primate-importation pipeline—beginning with monkeys who originated in Cambodia.
PETA’s New Ad Hits the Streets of Montréal
September 20, 2023
PETA is plastering stark new ads throughout Montréal calling out Canadian officials for enabling the deadly Cambodian monkey-importation industry—even after the U.S. halted such imports and indicted Cambodian government officials for passing off wild-caught monkeys as captive-bred. The ads have appeared at 33 bus stops throughout the city as well as in newspapers Le Devoir, The Suburban, and the Montreal Gazette.
