Philippine Airlines Caught Lying About Cruel Monkey Transport

Update: Victory – Philippine Airlines recently issued a statement banning the shipping of primates to laboratories. 

For months now, Philippine Airlines (PAL) has been ignoring or evading questions about the shipment of primates to laboratories on its flights or outright lying in response to the questions. PAL is one of only three major airlines in the world that still ships primates to be tortured and killed in cruel experiments, but you wouldn’t know that if you believed its representatives.

Reps have been telling concerned citizens and PETA supporters who call the company’s offices that the airline doesn’t ship monkeys and hasn’t done so for a long time—but that’s a lie. PETA U.S. has received documentation that PAL shipped nearly 200 pig-tailed macaque monkeys from Jakarta to laboratories in the U.S. within the past 12 months alone! Despite the fact that PETA told PAL that we possess this documentation, the airline recently released a statement via its website and Facebook page that read, “Philippine Airlines is not engaged in the transport of wild, endangered or threatened animals, regardless of their purpose.” The pig-tailed macaque monkeys that the airline is transporting are widely considered to be a threatened species. After several phone calls and e-mails to PAL regarding this false statement, the company quietly removed it from all locations.

After several demonstrations in the Philippines and abroad, a disruption at one of its ticketing offices in Manila, and daily phone calls and e-mails, PAL is clearly feeling the pressure from PETA and the countless concerned citizens voicing their concern for these monkeys. We need to make sure that the company follows through and ends its shipments. Sign the petition on Change.org today to tell Philippine Airlines to stop cruel monkey transport.

Other Ways That You Can Help

Please call the local ticketing office in your country and politely tell the representative that you will not fly with PAL until it stops shipping monkeys to laboratories. You can find international office contact details here.

You can also send polite comments via e-mail to [email protected].

If you’re told that the airline has already stopped, ask the representative to tell you and PETA in writing.

Posted by Edwina Baier