CAARE Citizens for
Alternatives to Animal Research and Experimentation
May 2017
In recent years, a global campaign by animal advocates has pressured airlines to cease shipping monkeys to research labs. Originating in Asia and Southeast Asia, tens of thousands of monkeys are shipped each year on perilously long journeys to Europe and North America, many of them sickened or dying in the grueling transport process. Their end destination: a life of fear, pain and misery in laboratories.
The campaign has been successful in dissuading many airlines from shipping monkeys; however, there is a new downside to its success. Fearing losses from its monkey export business, Mauritius, one of the world’s largest exporters of monkeys, is considering opening research labs on the island to avoid export limitations.
Please Join CAARE and other animal advocacy groups in calling on authorities in Mauritius to cancel any plans to open primate research facilities on the island.
Sign an online petition: Oppose establishment of animal labs in Mauritius
Free monkeys roam the beautiful island. Photo credit: Cruelty Free
International
Mauritius, a small island nation off the coast of Africa, is second only
to China in supplying monkeys for research. In 2015 Mauritius exported 7,357
monkeys to western labs. Nearly half of those were sent to the U.S.
The Mauritius government is also seizing this as an opportunity to open up
research labs using other animals, including rats, mice, and rabbits, though
it is expected that monkeys will be the main species.
A captive mother and her baby in Mauritius. Photo credit: Cruelty Free
International
Cruelty Free International (CFI), based in the UK, has been at the
forefront of this fight, last month participating in meetings in Mauritius
to oppose the plan. CAARE has learned from CFI that the Mauritius Cabinet
Office recently adopted a regulation to permit animal experiments to be
carried out on the island.
Such a development spells terrible suffering for animals in the form of
captivity, extreme deprivation, painful procedures, and death. Monkeys
native to Mauritius, including those captured to breed offspring, are most
likely to be affected by this ruling.
The past thirty years have seen Mauritius enjoy economic growth by investing in luxury tourism as well as in renewable energy, gaining the country an international reputation as an eco-friendly haven.
Thank you for everything you do for animals!
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