A newborn macaque was found limp in her mother’s arms at the University of Washington’s primate breeding facility. Staff assumed she was dead. They placed her in a biohazard bag, sealed it, and put her in a cooler.

Nearly an hour later, she was discovered still alive — gasping for air.

Instead of immediately confronting the systemic failures that allowed a living baby to be treated as medical waste, senior leadership at the Washington National Primate Research Center reportedly discussed removing the word “Primate” from the center’s name.

A name change does not fix negligence. It does not undo suffering. And it does not prevent it from happening again.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture later classified the infant’s death as a critical violation of animal welfare regulations, citing failures in veterinary oversight and confirmation-of-death procedures. Yet rather than leading with transparency and reform, the university has moved forward with rebranding discussions.

Animal lovers across the country are asking a simple question:
If the system failed so profoundly once, how can the public trust it won’t fail again?

We call on the University of Washington, UW President Ana Mari Cauce, the Board of Regents, and the National Institutes of Health to:

• Commit to full transparency regarding animal welfare violations.
• Implement independent oversight of animal care procedures.
• Develop a clear transition plan away from invasive primate experimentation toward modern, non-animal research methods.

Monkeys are intelligent, social, emotional beings. A baby’s final moments should never be spent suffocating in a sealed bag.

Rebranding cruelty does not erase it.

If the University of Washington truly values science and ethics, it must do more than change a name — it must change course.

Sign to demand accountability, transparency, and an end to primate suffering at UW.