Air France, Stop Transporting Primates

Stop Transporting Primates For Research

Source:  American Anti-Vivisection Society

“Animal advocates have been successful in international efforts to convince every major passenger airline to stop its transport of primates for research, except for one: Air France. While the airline claims that nonhuman primates are vital for research into human disease, the fact remains that it has no expertise in this area, particularly concerning the care, treatment, and special needs of monkeys.

“We need your help in encouraging Air France to say NO to transporting primates for research!

“AAVS documents the research industry’s importation of monkeys and the suffering those monkeys are forced to endure in its 2011 report entitled “Primates by the Numbers: the Use and Importation of Nonhuman Primates for Research and Testing in the United States.” Primates who are caught in this trade are typically juvenile monkeys torn from their families, who are then packed into crates and sent on grueling journeys that can last for days. An estimated one percent of imported primates die each year at quarantine facilities, having suffered from conditions including bloat, pericarditis, hemorrhagic enteritis, pneumonia, dehydration, trauma, stress, pulmonary edema, rectal prolapse, and parasitic worm infestation.

“The vast majority of imported primates are macaques, and according to records from the Fish and Wildlife Service, over 57,000 monkeys were imported into the U.S. between 2010 and 2012. In 2012, laboratories reported using nearly 30,000 nonhuman primates in research involving pain and distress, representing 45 percent of the total number of primates used in labs that year. Further, over 1,200 of those primates were reported as having been used in experiments involving unalleviated pain and distress.

“The alarming facts surrounding primate transport and laboratory use have not gone unnoticed. China Southern Airlines, United Airlines, and Air Canada are the most recent companies to adopt policies prohibiting the practice. It’s time for Air France to do the same!

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO END PRIMATE TRANSPORT

“Please contact Air France and urge the company to stop transporting primates for research. Tell them that primates require special care and treatment from trained individuals and the nature of transport environments only exacerbate their susceptibility to illness and suffering.”

Go here to send your request.