Animal rights activists angry as over 1,000 macaques imported from Cambodia in 2020 for research
Canada has approved the import of roughly 2,500 non-human primates annually from the U.S., but 2020 was the first year an additional number were imported from Cambodia
Author of the article:
Christopher Nardi
Publishing date:
Feb 25, 2021 • 8 hours ago • 4 minute read

OTTAWA – Animal rights activists are up in arms after Canadian companies last year bought 1,000 monkeys for the purpose of scientific experimentation from Cambodian suppliers, saying our nation should not be supporting potentially notoriously inhumane breeders.

“There have been very serious welfare concerns raised about the living conditions of these monkeys in Cambodia and nearby countries, as well as concerns about misleading information being provided from sellers over there. And I think for Canada to be complicit in that is potentially quite concerning,” said Camille Labchuk, an animal rights lawyer and executive director for advocacy group Animal Justice.

Liz White, head of the Animal Alliance of Canada, is also concerned about the health of the animal populations in Cambodia.

“This is a serious concern in terms of maintaining a healthy wildlife population in Cambodia for macaques,” White said. “This has great implications in terms of the population numbers and the health of the population and the countries that they’re getting them from.”

In 2020, the Canadian government approved the import of 1,056 macaca fascicularis (a type of macaque) by private interests from Cambodia for “scientific and research” use, a first since at least 2016 according to documents obtained by National Post through an access to information request.

Documents also show that at least a portion — if not all — of those macaques were brought to Quebec on behalf of Charles River Laboratories, a major U.S.-based importer of non-human primates used for breeding and scientific testing that has multiple sites throughout the province.

According to documents from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the government has approved the import of roughly 2,500 non-human primates annually from the U.S. for research testing purposes in the last five years.

But 2020 marked the first year that an additional number of primates were imported from Cambodia, which has regularly been the target of critiques by animal protection organizations for alleged mistreatment of the animals.

For example, a 2008 investigation by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection found that up to 80 per cent of macaques trapped in the Cambodian wild died before reaching a laboratory due to trauma or poor treatment.
https://theprovince.com/news/politics/a ... r-research

They should use prisoners with life sentences, or volunteer prisoners . Make prisoners useful

We're gonna need some help finishing these experiments, Steve.
Well the boss did say a monkey could do it.
You know humans eat more bananas than monkeys?
Not surprising, can't say I know anyone that's eaten a monkey.

Backstory behind the news:
Dozens of lab monkeys were killed due to failed experiments and shipping mistakes, USDA claims
By Rick Anderson
Nov. 2, 2016 3 AM PT
Reporting from Seattle —

Repeated laboratory mistakes and mistreatment of animals resulted in the deaths of 38 primates bred for use in medical experiments by research facilities near Seattle and Houston, the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleged in a newly filed complaint.

The deaths included 25 long-tailed macaques shipped from Cambodia to the U.S. “without adequate veterinarian care” who died or were euthanized after suffering organ failure due to dehydration and hypoglycemia. Additionally, six monkeys died during liver biopsy procedures because “personnel were inadequately trained,” the USDA states in the administrative lawsuit.

SNBL USA, a subsidiary of Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories of Japan, operates a breeding and research facility in Everett, Wash., and a breeding, holding, import and research facility in Alice, Texas. It has a large colony of test animals available — “over 40,000 NHPs [non-human primates] in stock worldwide,” according to the company website.

USDA officials said they believe SNBL “willfully violated” the Animal Welfare Act, which imposes safeguards to, in part, protect animals used in medical experiments and testing.

“Despite having been advised on multiple occasions” that it was not complying with treatment regulations and was hit with repeated fines, the complaint says, the company continued to fall short of the minimum requirements. The lawsuit requires a response and could lead to a hearing and fines.

The USDA complaint cites 38 deaths that occurred from 2010 through 2016.
https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-la ... story.html