Cambodia, Russia, United States: macaques in the hold to laboratories

Action for Primates and One Voice have been contacted concerning two shipments of monkeys flown during November by AirBridgeCargo, a Russian cargo airline and part of the Volga-Dnepr Group. Our source at a Moscow airport stated that the monkeys, destined to be used in experiments, were flown as cargo on flights RU/ABW748 and RU/ABW738 on 2nd and 23rd November from Cambodia to Sheremetyevo Alexander S. Pushkin International Airport in Russia and then transfered onto flight RU/ABW701 to the USA, a total distance of over 15,000 kilometers.

We are informed that the monkeys were imported by U.S companies Envigo and Charles River, both major importers and suppliers of non-human primates for research. Only recently, a plan to expand Envigo's primate breeding facility in Alice, Texas was reported in the news media.

Cambodia is a major exporter of long-tailed macaques to laboratories, primarily in the USA and Japan. Between 2017-18, it exported 15,530 monkeys for research. During air transportation, monkeys are packed into small crates and travel in the cargo hold. They will suffer stress and anxiety as they are forced to endure extremely long journeys around the world.

As a result of public concern and opposition, many airlines and cargo carriers, including American Airlines, British Airways, United Airlines, South African Airways, Delta Airlines, Eva Air, Air Canada and China Airlines, made the decision to end their involvement in the cruelty and suffering caused by the international trade in non-human primates by refusing to transport these animals destined for the research industry.

Please take action by sending polite E-mail to AirBridgeCargo urging it to join the other airlines, and stop transporting non-human primates.

E-mail addresses for AirBridgeCargo offices around the world can be found here: https://www.airbridgecargo.com/en/page/35/office-locator

The AirBridgeCargo Moscow Head Office:
E-mail: service.rus@airbridgecargo.com
E-mail: info@airbridgecargo.com

UK office:
E-mail: AOG@volga-dnepr.co.uk