New Delhi, Aug 19 (Inditop.com) Animal rights activist and MP Maneka Gandhi has written a letter to the governor of Puerto Rico seeking a prohibition on importing monkeys to that country from Mauritius for laboratory experiments.
“After learning about a proposal to construct a massive monkey-breeding facility in Guayama, Puerto Rico, MP Maneka Gandhi has sent an urgent letter to Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuno asking him to stop Bioculture, a company that sells monkeys to laboratories, from completing plans to capture monkeys from their home in Mauritius,” said a statement from People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Gandhi is one of the founding members of PETA.
The company in the Latin American country, she alleged, held monkeys captive in Puerto Rico and sold “thousands of their babies for use in experiments”.
In her letter, Gandhi has cited that many countries including India prohibit the export of monkeys for use in animal experiments or for other purposes.
“Medical authorities, including the US National Research Council, are calling for a shift away from using animals in testing toward non-animal research strategies,” Gandhi wrote.
“Puerto Rico can help lead the way to safer pharmaceuticals, improved human health and a world free from cruelty to animals by taking one small but significant first step-shutting down any further construction of the Bioculture monkey facility.”
