Victory! Kenya Airways Ends Monkey Lab Shipments Following PETA US Action

In a huge blow to the cruel animal experimentation industry, Kenya Airways—which has transported hundreds of monkeys from a Mauritius breeding farm to the U.S. to be tormented and killed in laboratories—has ended this practice.

The airline announced its decision not to renew its contract—which expired at the end of February—just 24 hours after PETA U.S. contacted it following a horrific truck crash in January, in which crates full of monkeys who had been flown in by the airline spilled out onto a Pennsylvania highway.

The accident made global headlines and highlighted the suffering that animals endure even before they end up in laboratories: Every year, thousands of monkeys are flown to the U.S. for experiments. They are crammed into cramped wooden crates for grueling, days-long transport in planes’ dark and terrifying cargo holds, where they are forced to sit in their own urine and feces. Then, they’re trucked to undisclosed quarantine sites before being sent to laboratories, where they will be cut open, poisoned, crippled, addicted to drugs, shocked, or tormented in other ways before they’re killed.

Not only is experimenting on thinking, feeling beings cruel, it’s failing to provide treatments and cures for humans. Studies show that 95% of new medications that test safe and effective on animals fail in human clinical trials. It’s time for science to evolve, and that’s why PETA scientists have developed the Research Modernization Deal, which provides a roadmap and a robust strategy for moving away from experiments on animals and implementing humane, human-relevant research.

PETA thanks Kenya Airways for cutting ties with the heinous animal experimentation business. Now, let’s urge other airlines to do the same: Please take a minute to urge Wamos Air to join Kenya Airways and other industry leaders in prohibiting shipments of primates destined for laboratories and laboratory suppliers.