PETA Statement re Verdict for Cambodian Official Prosecuted for Smuggling Monkeys

For Immediate Release:
March 22, 2024

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA primate scientist Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel regarding the “not guilty” verdict in the U.S. Department of Justice’s prosecution of Cambodian government official Masphal Kry in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida:

Regardless of the verdict, the evidence showed that countless monkeys were abducted from their forest homes and laundered with dirty paperwork and that representatives from two American importers—Worldwide Primates and Orient BioResource Center (now Inotiv)—signed off on the paperwork for black market monkeys. We also know that Charles River Laboratories is currently under federal investigation for possible violations of importation laws and continues to hold onto 1,200 monkeys who were apparently illegally imported. It’s clear that it will be impossible going forward to prove that monkeys aren’t trafficked. So while we await the trials of the others who were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for their alleged involvement in the massive monkey-smuggling scheme, the primate-importation industry should be shut down now.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.