PETA Members Protest Plan to Poison Monkeys in Military Course
For Immediate Release:
September 6, 2011
Contact:
Robbyn Brooks 202-483-7382
Alexandria, Va. -- Wearing monkey costumes and holding signs that read, "McHugh: No More Monkey Business" and "Army: Stop Poisoning Primates," PETA members will protest outside the home of John McHugh, Secretary of the Army, on Wednesday. The action comes days before the military's planned training course at Maryland's Aberdeen Proving Ground on September 11 and 12 in which vervet monkeys will be injected with a drug overdose in order to crudely recreate the effects of a nerve agent.The monkeys are forced to endure violent seizures and vomiting, and some even stop breathing. This cruel and crude "show and tell" exercise violates Department of Defense guidelines that prohibit harming primates for training purposes and require the use of modern non-animal alternatives when available. Video is available to view here.
When: Wednesday, September 7, 12 noon
Where: 501 Slaters Ln. (near the George Washington Memorial Parkway), Alexandria
"Poisoning monkeys until they convulse and stop breathing is cruel and a violation of Army policy. It teaches nothing about how the human body responds to nerve agent attacks," says PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo. "The Army would better train its soldiers by replacing its crude animal labs with lifelike human patient simulators."
Other military and civilian training programs around the world—including the Israel Defense Forces—use sophisticated human patient simulators that can be programmed to mimic actual human responses to a nerve agent attack.
Similar protests will occur outside the homes of Col. Peter J. Schultheiss, Commander of the U.S. Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, and Maj. Gen. Nick Justice, Commanding General of Aberdeen Proving Ground.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.