Image from PETA

Our thanks to PETA for the information below and the option to send a quick pre-written letter on this issue. We have shared their posts about the Canadian import of endangered monkeys destined for research before and are pleased they are continuing to work on this issue. Let’s keep the pressure up!

Update (October 10, 2024): Two months ago, PETA and the Spanish animal protection group Abolición Vivisección exposed that Charles River Laboratories and Polish airline SkyTaxi had illegally imported—for the third time—hundreds of endangered monkeys into Canada for use in cruel and deadly experiments. The Canadian Transportation Agency seems to think that flouting international regulations is no big deal. It took action, a good step, but apparently only by doing the bare minimum: fining the airline a paltry $7,500, amounting to only $4 per monkey illegally transported.

The terrified monkeys endured more than 48 hours of misery stuffed inside tiny cargo crates on a flight to Canada after being sent around the globe from a squalid Cambodian monkey farm to an airport in Tbilisi, Georgia. The flight violated Canadian transport regulations because SkyTaxi is only approved to fly into Canada from Poland. The Canadian Transportation Agency initially and rightfully denied the August 8 flight entry, but that didn’t deter SkyTaxi from landing or Charles River from whisking the monkeys away to its facilities outside Montréal.

We’re urging Canadian authorities to stop allowing Charles River to twist their arms and to ban SkyTaxi from flying monkeys into the country. We’re also asking the Canadian CITES Management Authority and the CITES Secretariat in Geneva to investigate whether Charles River and SkyTaxi knowingly provided false information on documents that accompanied the shipments.

Please take action below to urge Canadian officials to immediately shut down all imports of monkeys to Canada.