Please Urge NIH to Pull the Plug on Funding for Cruel and Abusive Primate Laboratory

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Update: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has betrayed both the public and animals: It announced that it settled its administrative lawsuit against Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories USA (SNBL) for a paltry $185,000—a drop in the bucket for the massive international animal exploiter. Unbelievably, just one day before this trivial settlement amount was announced for its repeated violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the company was cited for additional incidents that involved the death of a monkey by strangulation, the death of an infant monkey who was taken from her cage and then returned to the wrong mother, and hitting caged monkeys. SNBL is a dirty player in an ugly business, and PETA continues to urge the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to pull the permit that allows it to receive tax dollars in the form of federal contracts.

Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories USA (SNBL)—a primate dealer and contract-testing laboratory with operations in Everett, Washington, and Alice, Texas—has just been slapped with an administrative lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for dozens of documented violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act from 2011 to 2016 that have led to horrific suffering and death for many animals.

PETA is calling on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to stop directing taxpayer funds to SNBL and pull the "Assurance" that permits it to receive federal contracts and is asking the Food and Drug Administration to investigate the operation for violations of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The complaint, which was sent to PETA, follows numerous PETA complaints, a 2011 whistleblower report indicating that SNBL abuses and neglects monkeys, and three USDA stipulations in 2006, 2008, and 2009. The USDA's complaint details numerous incidents, including the following, among others:

Twenty-five monkeys shipped from Cambodia to Houston sustained "multiple organ failure caused by dehydration and hypoglycemia." They died or were euthanized after they were trucked to Washington without veterinary care, in spite of being weak, thin, and in poor health.

A 6-week-old monkey became trapped while trying to escape through a fence. Monkeys on the other side tried unsuccessfully to pull him through, and he died from trauma and hypothermia.

Six monkeys died when improperly trained and unqualified personnel conducted liver biopsies on them.

Multiple monkeys suffered from trauma, hyperthermia, and seizures and ultimately died after being pursued by net-wielding workers.

A monkey became entangled in a cable and strangled to death.

At least two monkeys died after sustaining severe injuries during fights with incompatible cagemates.

A monkey suffocated to death after SNBL staff failed to notice that the animal's head was stuck in a cage.

"SNBL's incompetence and indifference have cruelly killed many monkeys for many years," says PETA Senior Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo. "PETA is calling for this laboratory to be stripped of its funding and shut down."



Please contact NIH and urge the agency to cancel the "Assurance" that allows SNBL to receive federal contracts.