CHRISTINE DELL’ AMORE: ‘Volkswagen’s decision to experiment with monkeys in vehicle emissions has drawn wide condemnation, reflecting the growing unpopularity of animal testing… The use of non-human primates as lab animals has long been contentious. Animal welfare groups argue that experiments on non-human primates are especially cruel, because of the animals’ similarities to humans… Following an uproar on social media, Volkswagen told PETA: “The Volkswagen Group clearly distances itself from all forms of animal cruelty. Animal testing contradicts our own ethical standards”…
In recent years, the movement to end invasive research on these animals, humans’ closest genetic relatives, has gained force. In 2015, the National Institute of Health announced that all federally owned chimpanzees would be moved to sanctuaries, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officially classified all captive chimpanzees as endangered—effectively ending experimentation… For instance, for over a century chimpanzees were used in U.S. laboratories to test new vaccines and medical procedures. Sometimes housed in small, cement cages, many lived most of their lives in isolation’. SOURCE…
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