For Immediate Release:
15 October 2024
Contact:
Utkarsh Garg; UGarg@petaindia.org
Anushka Yadav; AYadav@petaindia.org
Mumbai – On Wednesday, a giant wounded and tormented “monkey” will be joined by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India supporters outside the office of Ethiopian Airlines in Andheri East. This action aims to urge the airline to stop transporting endangered long-tailed macaques for use in experiments. The airline, which appears to have ties to an alleged illegal international monkey-smuggling ring, has flown thousands of monkeys from Mauritius and Southeast Asia for experimentation in the cargo holds of passenger airplanes, even though it previously told PETA Asia that it had a policy against this practice.
When: Wednesday, 16 October, 12 noon sharp
Where: In front of the Sahar Plaza entrance, beside Gate No 3, Chakala Metro Station, JB Nagar, Andheri East, Mumbai
“Ethiopian Airlines is flying endangered monkeys to their deaths and showing no regard for animal welfare or human health in the process,” says PETA India Campaigns Coordinator Utkarsh Garg. “PETA India calls on the airline to get out of this bloody business and asks travellers to join us in urging the airline to stop.”
Ethiopian Airlines has transported multiple shipments containing hundreds of monkeys who were allegedly illegally taken from their forest homes, according to testimony and evidence presented in a US court earlier this year. Last year, the US Department of Agriculture cited the airline for multiple violations of animal protection laws, including failing to provide proper feeding and watering instructions for 336 monkeys who were crammed inside wooden crates and flown nearly 10,000 miles to the US from Mauritius. The monkeys were left on an airport tarmac in the US state of Georgia, for at least 95 minutes in 29-degree heat. The airline also imported 584 monkeys into the US without mandatory health certificates, according to US federal citations.
Monkeys transported across borders pose a health risk to humans. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has acknowledged that in the past three years monkeys imported into the US have carried deadly diseases and pathogens, including tuberculosis and a dangerous bacterium classified as a bioterrorism agent.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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