PETA Statement on Charles River Laboratories’ $500M to Reduce Animal Testing

For Immediate Release:
April 30, 2024

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA primate scientist Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel regarding a project to reduce the reliance on animal testing that was announced by Charles River Laboratories:

Just last year, Charles River dismissed non-animal research methods as a replacement for experimenting on monkeys. Now, after decreased client demand resulted in the sale of 29% fewer monkeys by the company in 2023 (see p. 6) than the year before, Charles River is scrambling to catch up with the pharmaceutical industry’s embrace of AI. If the company truly believes that “alternatives are the path to the next frontier of drug development,” it should abandon its plan to build the nation’s largest monkey-holding warehouse in Brazoria County, Texas.

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 the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.