Endless agony for macaques in laboratories

Free access to information on experiments

Details of research published online and in scientific journals carried out at European laboratories are chilling. For example, research involving long-tailed macaques kept at Covance Laboratories GmbH in Germany and Silabe-Adueis in France was published and can be accessed freely.

In this experiment, 24 macaques were killed just to remove their eyes to obtain anatomical data on a specific area of the retina called the fovea. The researcher state that only 24 eyes were used, so it is unclear what happened to the other 24 eyes No details were given. Were the macaques killed only for their eyes or were they used for other purposes? . But what we do know is that the macaques were killed deliberately, for obscure research purposes and after years of confinement, stress and pain.

Another experiment carried out at Covance in Germany, was published on this website.

There were at least 34 macaques, perhaps more, who underwent survival surgery on the operating table. Cannulae were inserted into their eyes, in order to cause the retina to detach and inject a test substance. All the animals were then killed to obtain the eyes. 

In this same laboratory, researchers injected a test compound subcutaneously into pregnant adult females in order to study the effects on their infants. The infants were observed for about 10 months before being killed in order to obtain their tissues.

France at the heart of this trade

Forced to swallow drugs , injected with substances, having holes drilled in their skulls ... the list of the horrors suffered by macaques used in experiments in European laboratories sends shivers down the spine, all the more so when we know how young the macaques used in experiments are and how much they need their mothers! It's shameful that France is at the heart of this terrible trade!

The law is changing but what checks will be carried out ?

European law stipulates that primates used for scientific purposes should come exclusively from breeding establishments or colonies maintained with no introductions of animals taken from the wild. As from 10 November 2022 laboratories will therefore no longer be able to use them. Monkeys used in experiments will have to be second generation after capture. But what checks will be carried out ?

These young monkeys need us!

We maintain that the lack of transparency in the trade in monkeys used in experiments is unacceptable. Why are France and the Silabe establishment a regular staging post for the trade in monkeys?

Please sign our petition for total transparency about animals used in experiments, the financing of non-animal alternatives and the systematic and exclusive use of such alternatives where they exist!

Translated by Patricia Fairey