On Wednesday, 43 monkeys escaped from a research center in a small town in South Carolina in the United States. The animals haven’t been caught.
The rhesus macaque monkeys got out of the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee, a facility accused of animal cruelty by animal welfare organizations.
Alpha Genesis staff are trying to lure the monkeys back with food, police said in a Facebook post. Traps have been set up to catch the animals, and police are using thermal cameras to help find them.
The monkeys are young, all female, and weigh between 6 to 7 pounds (around 3 kilograms). They are described as being very shy.
Monkeys escaped cruelty
The Yemassee Police Department has advised residents to keep doors and windows closed to prevent the monkeys from entering their homes.
The comments on the Facebook post show mostly empathy for the animals. Many people expressed outrage over animal testing, calling it cruel and inhumane, with comments suggesting that the monkeys fled to escape abuse and torture.
A few responses pointed out the facility’s negligence and called for its closure due to repeated incidents.
Some expressed hope that the monkeys would not be recaptured, as they feared the animals would be euthanized.
The Alpha Genesis facility has over 100 acres, as big as 75 football fields, for breeding and research purposes. It conducts extensive research on monkeys for medical and pharmaceutical advancements. The facility studies how drugs are absorbed, distributed and metabolized in macaques.
The ethical concerns surrounding the use of monkeys for testing have drawn attention from animal rights organizations and sparked public debate over the balance between scientific progress and animal rights.
Animal cruelty charges
Alpha Genesis has faced multiple allegations and penalties related to animal cruelty and welfare violations over the years.
In 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) fined Alpha Genesis $12,600 for violations of federal animal welfare laws, including failing to handle animals humanely and cage monkeys safely and securely.
In 2019, three monkeys died of dehydration, and a fourth suffered due to staff negligence at Alpha Genesis. The water supply to their cages malfunctioned, and staff failed to check the water lines as required.
In January 2023, the USDA issued an official warning to Alpha Genesis for three serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act. These violations resulted in the deaths of four monkeys and serious injuries to four others due to negligence.
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