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EXTRA: 40 monkeys on the loose in US town after escaping lab
Action Alert Contact:
Sarah J. Helming, Deputy Administrator
email: [email protected]
Deputy Administrator Helming,
You must prosecute the Alpha Genesis Corporation for the negligence which
allowed over forty monkeys to escape, endangering both the monkeys
themselves and local residents. This facility must be fully penalized -- a
fine of $12,722 per infraction/per animal.
EXTRA: 40 monkeys on the loose in US town after escaping lab
From 21stCenturyChronicle.com, November 8, 2024
More than 40 monkeys escaped from a research lab in a small town in the
United States after an employee failed to properly shut an enclosure.
The 43 rhesus macaque monkeys fled from the Alpha Genesis facility in
Yemassee, South Carolina, on Wednesday, according to a police statement
issued the following day.
Police said the monkeys were all females weighing about 3kgs (6.6 pounds),
too small and young to be used for testing.
“They are not infected with any disease whatsoever. They are harmless and a
little skittish,” said Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander on Thursday,
emphasising that they posed “almost no danger to the public”.
Alpha Genesis set up traps and was using thermal imaging cameras to
recapture the monkeys on the run. “The handlers know them well and usually
can get them back with fruit or a little treat,” said Alexander.
Police urged residents of the town, which has a population of about 2,000,
to keep their doors and windows “securely closed”, report any sightings
immediately and refrain from approaching the monkeys “under any
circumstances.
Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis, which provides primates for research
worldwide, told CBS News he was “hoping for a happy ending” with the
primates returning of their own volition.
“It’s really like follow-the-leader. You see one go and the others go,” he
said of their escape.
However, this was not the first breakout from the lab. In 2018, federal
officials fined Alpha Genesis $12,600 after dozens of primates escaped.
There were other escapes in 2014 and 2016, with a total of 45 monkeys
fleeing.
The group Stop Animal Exploitation Now sent a letter to the US Department of
Agriculture asking the agency to immediately send an inspector to the Alpha
Genesis facility and to conduct a thorough investigation.
The clear carelessness which allowed these 40 monkeys to escape endangered
not only the safety of the animals, but also put the residents of South
Carolina at risk,” wrote Michael Budkie, the executive director of the
group, in a letter.
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