Disney plans to use live monkeys in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. As the founder of Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary, I personally help care for monkeys who lived much of their lives as props for the entertainment industry. If Disney wants to be seen as a responsible and animal-friendly company, it should not use real monkeys in Pirates of the Caribbean. Please sign to support my petition.

Capuchin monkeys are highly intelligent, sensitive, and social wild animals who do not belong on the set of a movie. Monkeys are often stolen from their mothers when they are infants. It is not hard to imagine the horror both baby and mother must feel during this forced separation.

The Walt Disney Company has incredible power as a popular source of family-friendly entertainment. Please reconsider the message you spread through your usage of monkeys in film. The successful use of computer generated imagery alternatives will not only garner you more attention (as it did for the Planet of the Apes films), but will help you avoid the notoriety and protests associated with relying on monkey actors.

Right now organizations including Humane Society International Australia, Wild Futures, Born Free Foundation, and Captive Animals Protection Society are all asking Australia's Federal Environment Minister to reject requests to import monkeys from California to Australia for the film. That is good, and I support it. But we also need Disney to hear from the public and how inappropriate and unethical it is to use monkeys when many forward thinking Hollywood directors and studios are moving to new technologies which replace live animal props. Using exploited wild animals is cruel, outdated, and can lead to neglect.

Please sign to ask Disney and the Pirates of the Caribbean production team to refuse to use live monkeys in their upcoming film.