May 18, 2017
Send a letter to Mauritius officials to stop plans to set up animal labs.
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.
Free monkeys roam the beautiful island. Photo credit: Cruelty Free International
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. Send the letter above or email directly to The Prime Minister of Mauritius, The Minister of Agro Industry and The Minister of Tourism ([email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]).
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.
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.
A captive mother and her baby in Mauritius. Photo credit: Cruelty Free International
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.
Send your letter today to let Mauritius know that this decision to set up animal laboratories on the island will hurt its thriving tourism industry and tarnish its reputation as a progressive nation committed to ethical ventures.
Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research (CAARE), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, established to highlight and promote research without animals.
Your donation helps us carry out our mission to speak up for animals in laboratories, and to end animal suffering by disseminating information about the power and progress of research without animals.