Crouched in tiny cages, and wearing monkey masks and prisoner outfits, members of PETA protested outside Air France’s U.S. headquarters on 55th Street and Sixth Avenue this afternoon.
They are demanding the airline stop transporting monkeys and other primates to laboratories for scientific experiments.
“By shipping primates to laboratories, Air France is just as guilty of terrorizing and killing these animals as the experimenters who wield the drills, scalpels, and syringes,” said PETA vice president of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo.
Nearly 20,000 primates are shipped each year from Asia, Africa, and Latin America to U.S. labs. American Airlines, Delta, Lufthansa and Qantas have all refused to ship primates for medical experiments, according to PETA, but Air France is part of a shrinking list of airlines—including Air China and Vietnam Airlines—that continue to do it, the group alleges.
