Expansion of the animal experimentation facility in Rousset: 93% of opinions against

An anachronistic project employing shameful methods

Stuck in the past, the CNRS has set itself the goal of tripling the number of monkeys held at the current Primatology Station in Rousset by 2029, thanks to no less than €30 million in public investment funding at launch, to become one of the main suppliers of primates destined for laboratories and for many years of suffering. This is in total contradiction with European commitments to reduce the number of animals used in experiments… and with public opinion, which is strongly opposed to these outdated practices. Not content with perpetuating them at the cost of the lives of thousands of primates each year, the CNRS, yielding to our mobilisation, launched a preliminary consultation that was neither ‘voluntary’ nor ‘transparent’, but rather a promotional brochure. It placed numerous obstacles in the way of a clear understanding of the project and its implications, going so far as to wait until an hour and a half before the last public meeting to publish the France 2023 public subsidy file and the report on the impact on fauna and flora, even though these had been requested from the very first day, on 16 October. The minutes of the various meetings and visits that took place after 25 October were not published at the end of the consultation period…

Animal advocates up in arms

These dirty tricks did not prevent the French people from rejecting this shameful project. Their eyes were opened to the unspeakable suffering of the animals involved, and they responded accordingly. In 2024, we called on the government to demand official documents, then, in April 2025, joined by 150 partner associations alongside the Collectif Vauclusien de Protection Animale, we mobilised in front of the town hall in Rousset. Finally, from 16 October to 16 November, we distributed more than 1,000 leaflets and organised more than a dozen grassroot events. Our efforts paid off, and more than 2,296 opinions were submitted on the platform.

A massive opposition to the breeding project… and to animal experimentation!

93% of the respondents to the consultation were opposed to this project for the intensive breeding of primates for laboratories. This is a real victory, and the guarantor was quick to highlight this impressive result, estimating that 81% of the opinions concerned issues of ethics and animal welfare. Better still, citizens were able to join us in expressing their astonishment at the lack of a national strategy to phase out animal experimentation, in contrast to a growing number of neighbouring countries that have virtually stopped  experimenting on monkeys. And indeed, how can we understand that a breeding facility that contravenes European Directive 2010/63/EU is approved… and financed with public money? The guarantor also noted that the opacity of decision-making and the lack of transparency of the protocols, which we have always denounced, were problematic for respondents. And that’s not all, as citizens went even further in also questioning animal experimentation. Our 2023 survey already showed this, with 74% of French people opposed to the very principle of these cruel experiments. At a time when the first alternatives based on artificial intelligence are officially validated abroad, it is time for the French State to take the full measure of this necessary desire forchange!

Important recommendations

At the end of the consultation, the guarantor recommends, among other things:
–  that the CNRS’s response and its justifications be presented at a public meeting attended by the guarantor;
–  the establishment of an ongoing consultation with the presence of a CNDP guarantor in order to provide the information that is still missing, particularly concerning the risks to biodiversity, nature and health, as well as answers to the many questions that were left unanswered during the preliminary consultation;
– a detailed justification of the ethical questions raised by citizens.

The full report and recommendations are available via this link.
The animal experimentation lobby is lying in wait

However, One Voice disagrees with the guarantor when he does not question the fact
that the president of Gircor, the animal experimentation lobby in France, was
presented solely as a promoter of the project during the preliminary meetings. It is
incomprehensible to claim that concealing such information ‘is not likely to distort
public perception or the transparency of the debates’. We were forced to tone down
this common-sense statement in our stakeholder report so that it could be published
on the consultation platform.

The results of the preliminary consultation on the proposed expansion of the primatology centre are clear. We expect the CNRS to respond within the mandatory two-month period, putting an end to this opaque and anachronistic plan as requested by the vast majority of French people who have expressed their views. The €30 million of taxpayers’ money must go towards the development of alternative methods. Whatever the response, we remain fully committed to ensuring that no additional monkeys are bred in Rousset, where many primates are already awaiting transfer to a nightmarish life as laboratory animals.

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