Monkeys Spared Use in Painful Experiments

UPDATE: Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein recently prohibited the import of monkeys for the purpose of breeding and exportation. Last year, the Supreme Court stopped Mazor Farm from exporting wild-born monkeys in a shipment to a U.S. laboratory, and this recent move will change Israeli trade policy permanently. Despite the positive step, these new restrictions will not take effect until 2015 and will allow the exportation of animals born in captivity to continue. At this time, regulations governing the new policy have not been released, and we encourage you to keep writing to Minister Erdan asking that he strengthen this policy to protect all animals and close Mazor Farm for good.

First, the good news: An Israeli Supreme Court ruling last year stated that wild-caught monkeys could not be exported, which saved 90 monkeys from being shipped from Mazor Farm to the cages of Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories (SNBL). SNBL, a notoriously cruel U.S. laboratory, has come under fire for the torture of tens of thousands of dogs, rabbits, primates, and other animals.

Israeli animal protection organizations Behind Closed Doors and Let Animals Live, along with assistance from PETA U.S., have been working to stop primates from being shipped from Mazor Farm to laboratories around the world. Mazor Farm keeps and breeds 15,000 monkeys for use in cruel and painful experiments. Many of these primates were ripped from the wild, and all of them are separated from their families and their natural lives.

PETA U.S. asked its supporters to contact El Al Airlines, a carrier that was still transporting primates, and the airline announced that it will never again transport primates for experimentation!

While these are real victories, Mazor Farm is still capturing, imprisoning, and trading monkeys for painful and lethal experiments. And the Israeli Supreme Court failed to take any stand to protect monkeys bred in captivity. Please speak up for these monkeys and all animals by asking Gilad Erdan, the Israeli minister of environmental protection, to stop giving Mazor Breeding Farm trade permits and to close the facility for good. You can send your letter to:

The Honourable Gilad Erdan
Israeli Minister of Environmental Protection
5 Kanfei Nesharim Street
PO Box 34033
Jerusalem 95464, Israel
+972-2-6553701/2/3 (tel.)
[email protected]

Posted by Edwina Baier