By Kathleen Conlee
Earlier this month, 43 monkeys escaped Alpha Genesis, a monkey breeding facility in South Carolina that supplies animal testing labs. Years ago, Kathleen Conlee, vice president of Animal Research Issues at the Humane Society of the United States, worked at this facility, and what she saw there made her become an advocate for animals used in labs. Here she reflects on these escapees and what needs to be done to change how primates are treated once and for all.
When I first saw news about dozens of young monkeys escaping Alpha Genesis in the small town of Yemassee, South Carolina, the very facility where I used to work (then owned by a different company), memories of what I saw there came flooding to the forefront of my mind.
People from all corners of my life, past and present, sent the news to me. I realized that, while we are on the front lines of trying to make change for animals used in experiments every day, so many people aren’t aware that monkeys and other animals are still suffering in laboratories. Concerned messages poured in from the public asking what can be done to help these helpless animals.
It has been reported that 39 of the monkeys have been captured by the lab so far. The chance of life at a sanctuary is gone for them. We do not know yet what will happen to the four youngsters who remain at large. I am grateful that Born Free USA has offered to take in the animals at its sanctuary in Texas.
This latest escape, though, speaks to a larger systemic cruelty that is happening all the time.
For one thing, this is not the first time monkeys have escaped Alpha Genesis, which has more than 10,000 primates at three sites and receives millions in taxpayer dollars every year. The facility has also been marked by multiple violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act in recent years. Back when I worked at the facility in the 90s, I remember animals escaping several times, including a group of approximately 30 monkeys who used a fallen tree to get out of their enclosure. All were ultimately recaptured and brought back to the lab.
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To the many facilities that breed monkeys and other animals for laboratories, the animals are simply a product to be sold. These facilities include Alpha Genesis, Charles River Laboratories and Inotiv (the parent company of Envigo, a dog breeding facility where we rescued 4,000 beagles and that has since shut down). This is how it works: Animal testing facilities throughout the country send in their orders for animals. The animals are taken from their mothers and social groups and shipped off to laboratories where they are used in experiments for weeks, months or years. The vast majority don’t make it out alive. (We documented this in a 2022 undercover investigation at a laboratory owned by Inotiv). All this suffering—and for what? About 90% of drugs ultimately fail in human trials following animal tests.
My past experience working at a primate breeding and research facility is what fuels me to make our vision of a world where no animals are used in research and testing a reality. The desire to help those monkeys who had a taste of freedom creates a pit in my stomach. If only we could save them! But the sad reality is that they are only 43 of more than 100,000 primates in breeding facilities and laboratories in the United States each year.
We must get to the root cause of the issue—we can’t rescue our way out of this. As things are now, most cages that are emptied are simply filled up again. It’s difficult to tell people this—and it’s difficult for them to hear. I can’t stress enough, though, that every person who cares about the fate of those 43 individuals can help many more.
You can get involved in our multipronged work to spur change, which involves advocacy to:
- stop efforts to expand primate research and breeding;
- reduce the importation of primates into the U.S.;
- curb testing on primates and other animals;
- and accelerate the development and use of non-animal methods.
In the federal government’s most recent budget negotiations, the U.S. Senate proposed investing an additional $30 million to expand primate breeding and experimentation beyond the tens of millions currently being spent each year. This is simply the wrong direction. At a time when the spotlight is on federal spending and government waste, such an investment will entrench primate testing in our practices for decades to come. We were successful in stopping a similar effort earlier this year and are working to stop it again, but we need the public’s help.
There are also cases where companies are trying to build new primate breeding facilities, such as in Bainbridge, Georgia, where former Inotiv and Charles River Laboratories executives plan to breed and house up to 30,000 monkeys in a single facility. Thankfully local residents are doing all they can to fight the building of this monkey warehouse, and we have lent our support; we hope the opposition will ultimately prevail.
There has been a steady stream of primates imported into the U.S. for the last decade, averaging approximately 20,000 to 25,000 per year. There is a federal investigation underway related to the illegal importation of wild-caught primates whose populations are at risk because of their use by the biomedical community in the U.S. It was actually illegal importation of primates that drove me to leave the animal testing industry and become an advocate.
Some argue that any decrease in importation means we should increase primate breeding in the U.S., but that is the wrong direction. We are keeping a close eye on the situation and hope that the investigation results in serious consequences for those involved in wrongdoing.
Finally, we must curb testing on primates and other animals while advancing sophisticated non-animal test methods that are based on human biology and proving to be more accurate and effective than animal experiments. We are urging the Food and Drug Administration to make it clear that animal testing isn’t required for assessing the safety and effectiveness of human drugs. Our work to increase funding for the development of non-animal methods at the federal and state levels is also crucial. Follow our Facebook page about ending animal testing to learn more.
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What a dream it would be for those four monkeys who have not yet been captured to make their way to a sanctuary, and we can only hope it will come true. The even bigger dream is that their escape compels people to join us in working toward a more humane world, toward the day when monkeys and other animals in breeding facilities and laboratories are merely part of the past.
Kathleen Conlee is vice president of Animal Research Issues at the Humane Society of the United States.
