{"id":766305,"date":"2021-12-17T08:38:33","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T13:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=766305"},"modified":"2021-12-17T09:10:56","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T14:10:56","slug":"dr-faucis-monkey-island-of-death-naids-morgan-island-has-a-breeding-colony-of-about-3500-free-ranging-rhesus-macaques-used-for-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=766305","title":{"rendered":"‘MONKEY ISLAND’ OF DEATH: For more than 40 years Morgan Island been used to breed monkeys for Dr. Fauci’s horrific experiments"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Morgan Island has a breeding colony of about 3,500 free-ranging rhesus macaques, and that between 400 and 600 a year are removed, locked in labs, tortured and then killed.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

TONY BARTELME:<\/strong> For more than 40 years, Morgan Island, a kidney-shaped island near Beaufort, has been used to breed monkeys for federal government research laboratories. It\u2019s a well-documented and occasionally controversial operation that pits animal rights groups against medical researchers who say experiments on monkeys save countless human lives.<\/em><\/p>\n

But on a sunny afternoon Dec. 16, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace led a phalanx of media and animal rights activists on a chartered boat toward the island, saying she\u2019d long thought it was merely a \u201cretirement community\u201d for monkeys. The Charleston Republican blamed Anthony Fauci, director of the agency responsible for the colony, for what she called \u201cdisgusting and barbaric\u201d medical experiments…<\/em><\/p>\n

The public is barred from setting foot on the island, a rule designed to protect monkeys and humans from spreading diseases. And as the boat neared the island, a small vehicle could be seen along the shore, prompting speculation that the monkeys were being shooed away…<\/em><\/p>\n

South Carolina’s Morgan Island, a mix of high ground and marsh in the heart of South Carolina\u2019s ACE Basin. The island itself has about 400 acres of high ground, most of which is surrounded by marsh grass. While the public owns the land, signs dotting the shore issue stern warnings against trespassers. This lack of access has created an air of secrecy among some locals, who have long worried that some monkeys might escape…<\/em><\/p>\n

The FDA in the mid-1970s used rhesus monkeys in Puerto Rico to develop and test polio vaccines. In the late 1970s, monkeys from the Puerto Rican colony arrived in South Carolina. \u201cUpon arrival, each animal was uncrated and given a complete physical exam, and then released to the wilds of \u2018Monkey Island,\u2019 as Morgan Island was immediately christened,\u201d he wrote. The colony tripled in size over the next decade, generating \u201call manner of Dr. Moreau-like rumors,\u201d referencing the H.G. Wells classic…<\/em><\/p>\n

At the time, Labs of Virginia ran the operation. But in 2007, Charles River Laboratories, a large pharmaceutical company based in Massachusetts, took over. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NAID, actually owns the monkeys and has paid Charles River Laboratories more than $13.5 million since 2018, according to its latest contract…<\/em><\/p>\n

Asked about Mace\u2019s comments, NAID said in a statement that Morgan Island has a breeding colony of about 3,500 free-ranging rhesus macaques, and that between 400 and 600 a year are removed and used for \u201cresearch that helps develop life-saving prevention tools and treatments for diseases affecting public health.\u201d No research is done on the island itself…<\/em><\/p>\n

On the boat off Morgan Island, Mace said she\u2019d long been interested in animal rights issues, an interest going back to her school days when she went hunting with her father and wanted to become a veterinarian. She said her motivations were more personal than political, but she quickly moved the conversation toward politics \u2014 how her stances on animal rights had drawn bipartisan interest, both from fellow lawmakers and constituents. \u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

To be honest, Republicans haven\u2019t led on animal rights issues, and here\u2019s a chance to do so,\u201d she said… \u201cIt used to be almost like pulling teeth to get Republican support for animal rights,\u201d said Marty Irby, executive director of Animal Wellness Action, who joined Mace\u2019s expedition. \u201cBut now we\u2019re seeing bipartisan support for these issues”…<\/em><\/p>\n

Mace said she first learned about the use of Morgan Island\u2019s monkeys from the White Coat Waste Project. Anthony Bellotti, a former Republican strategist, created the group in 2013, saying that he\u2019d worked in a hospital laboratory after high school but found the animal experiments cruel. \u201cI wanted to unite the animal lovers and the liberty lovers,\u201d he told Science magazine in 2016…<\/em><\/p>\n

The scientific community has been debating the ethics of using monkeys, often referred to as non-human primates, for years. Many researchers argue that testing non-human primates is a critical tool to understand infectious diseases, from Alzheimer\u2019s to cancer. And even before the pandemic, demand for non-human primates had created a shortage, according to a 2018 federal report.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the same time, animal rights groups and some in the scientific community argue that such research is unnecessary, immoral and should be phased out. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said it would stop funding animal tests by 2035.<\/em><\/p>\n

On Dec. 16, Justin Goodman also joined Mace during the floating press conference, saying that the National Institutes for Health was behind the EPA and other agencies. He said that once the monkeys are removed from Morgan Island, they\u2019re \u201clocked in labs, tortured and then killed. We want to see this program stopped”… Meanwhile, Mace defended her focus on Fauci. \u201cAt the end of the day, Fauci is the face of NAID and NIH”. <\/em>SOURCE…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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