Last December, AAVS published an in–depth report, “Primates by the Numbers: The use and importation of nonhuman primates for research and testing in the United States.” The report exposes the toll this unsavory business takes on animals’ lives, and has already had an effect on the debate surrounding the sourcing of nonhuman primates for research.

Juvenile monkeys, torn from their families, are packed into crates and endure grueling journeys that can last for days on trucks and planes, sitting on the hot tarmac waiting to be loaded, terrified and often sick. They are referred to as a shipment, freight, or cargo. You and I know differently. They are scared little monkeys, and they have reason to be.

AAVS’s report exposed the unseen research and testing world that seems to have a limitless appetite for using nonhuman primates in highly invasive experiments. Today, more monkeys are held in U.S. labs than at any time since 1973.

This escalation of misery has got to stop. But instead of addressing the problems, the science establishment is making things worse. You see, after public protest, not to mention a track record of ‘incidents,’ many passenger airlines have sworn off handling shipments of animals headed for research. But defenders of animal research are capitalizing on yet another airline merger by calling specifically on United Airlines to resume carrying animals headed for labs, reversing a policy in place for years.