PETA’s Statement: U.S. ‘Investing’ in Breeding Monkeys

For Immediate Release:
July 19, 2021

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see this statement from Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, primate scientist at PETA, regarding the government’s plan to spend $30 million next year to breed monkeys for experimentation:

Diverting millions of taxpayer dollars into breeding monkeys for vaccines is like investing in the Titanic. Billions of dollars have been thrown at the national primate research centers over the last six decades, yet they have failed to breed healthy monkeys; failed to produce vaccines for HIV, Zika, tuberculosis, and malaria; and even failed to obey animal welfare laws. The National Institutes of Health, which is playing with our health and our tax dollars, admits that 95% of new medicines that test safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials. The need for SARS-CoV-2-variant vaccines hasn’t changed that stark fact. There is an urgent need for investment in human-relevant, non-animal research, and that’s where our funds must go.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.