Lab test monkeys are flown to UK 'injured and terrified'

Monkeys flown into the UK for laboratory testing were so badly injured that their crates were smeared with blood, photographs suggest.

- CLAIRE COLLEY, JANE DALTON

The long-tailed macaques endured journeys of up to 25 hours from Mauritius and Vietnam, transported in cramped wooden crates too small for them to stand upright.

After quarantine in the Netherlands, the macaques were driven to Brussels airport before being flown to Manchester airport. Activists, who said the animals would have been terrified on the journeys, slated the “cruel” conditions and the fact the UK still conducts experiments on primates.

Long-tailed macaques are the main primate species used in toxicology tests for drugs and chemicals by research organisations for pharmaceutical and chemical companies, as well as by universities. Dogs, pigs and rodents are also used.

Toxicity testing involves placing monkeys in restraining devices and dosing them with drugs or chemicals through a tube inserted into their stomachs. The substances may also be injected, often without anesthetic, or inhaled. This may be daily, and studies show side effects include vomiting, convulsing, internal bleeding and death. Importing monkeys is quicker and easier than breeding them in the UK, insiders say.

The photos, which were brought to light through freedom of information requests by the Dutch-Belgian group Animal Rights, sparked renewed criticism over the ethics of animals in research.

Group members who tracked the journeys of the planes and vans believe the monkeys were destined for a drug developer. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

The FOI replies revealed that one animal, imported on 28 May, suffered an anal prolapse – a potentially fatal condition. A Belgian animal welfare inspector’s checklist stated no animals were wounded, yet photos appear to show an injured monkey with the condition.