Animal Legal Defense Fund |Take Action

Oppose Puerto Rico’s Plan for a Massive Primate Breeding Facility

Join the Animal Legal Defense Fund and an international coalition of attorneys, scientists, and animal advocates in opposing the proposed construction of a massive facility in Puerto Rico for the purpose of breeding primates for use in painful and traumatic laboratory experiments.

The proposed facility in Guayama City will, according to plans, breed many thousands of highly intelligent, sensitive macaques for export to research facilities in the United States and around the world, and potentially for on-site and/or local experimentation as well.

Let Puerto Rican officials know you are part of the international opposition to this cruel plan!

Less than one year ago, Puerto Rico enacted a landmark animal protection law, based in part on a set of model laws drafted by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. The sweeping set of reforms provided for in Act 154 (P S. 2552) place Puerto Rico among the top tier of U.S. states and jurisdictions with regards to the strength of their laws protecting animals. This new law provides specific guidelines for experimentation on live animals: specifically, scientific research on animals at universities is allowable only when it meets criteria deeming it "absolutely essential;" any other experiments are prohibited for educational purposes at the elementary, intermediate and higher education levels, and completely banned in facilities outside of university research labs. The proposed primate breeding facility would violate both the letter and the spirit of Puerto Rico's progressive new law, which strictly limits the use of animals in experimentation.

In addition to troubling questions about its legality, such a facility would also place Puerto Rico behind the curve in the current context of scientific debate about laboratory research involving live animals. In 2007, the National Academy of Sciences published a report calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to make a fundamental shift in its toxicity testing strategies away from testing on mammals and focusing increasingly on new, more accurate-not to mention, more ethical-in vitro toxicity testing.

Send your letter to Puerto Rican officials today and let them know you oppose experimenting on sensitive, intelligent primates.

Thank you for taking a stand against animal experimentation!

This is an ongoing pledge that should be fulfilled as often as possible.

Comments, Suggestions and Stories

Isa Laborde Cayey, PR @ 05:38AM PT Sep 18

Es irracional la propuesta de utilizar monos para investigaciones cientificas, me parece absurdo y en contra de la vida. Quien es el animal aqui?
Ann Cawley Saint Joseph, MO @ 08:35PM PT Sep 16

Thank you!

Thank you for taking action! Together, we are winning the case against cruelty.

Since 1979, the Animal Legal Defense Fund has been the leader in the fight to win animals the legal protection they so desperately need — and deserve. Your support is vital to our continued success. Thank you for being a voice for animals!

Spread the word to your friends and family!
B F Harmony, ME @ 12:28AM PT Sep 16
Pledge fulfilled Sep 16!

Thank you!

Thank you for taking action! Together, we are winning the case against cruelty.

Since 1979, the Animal Legal Defense Fund has been the leader in the fight to win animals the legal protection they so desperately need — and deserve. Your support is vital to our continued success. Thank you for being a voice for animals!
Joycey Berry Canton, NC @ 03:22PM PT Sep 15

Thank you for making the pledge "Oppose Puerto Rico’s Plan for a Massive Primate Breeding Facility"

Thank you for taking action! Together, we are winning the case against cruelty.

Spread the word to your friends and family!
Soodle Billy Co.Dublin, Ireland @ 11:15AM PT Sep 15
Pledge fulfilled Sep 15!

Thank you!

Thank you for taking action! Together, we are winning the case against cruelty.