WASHINGTON (7News) — Travelers at Dulles International Airport were greeted Friday morning with pre-recorded screams of monkeys placed inside a shipping cargo container.PETA wheeled it into the airport’s ticket counter of Ethiopian Airlines.
The animal rights group is demanding Ethiopian Airlines stop its practice of allowing companies to fly monkeys into the United States which are then transported to research labs like Charles Rivers Labs in Frederick, Maryland for experiments.
“We needed to make it real and the crate represents what the monkeys endure when they are in the cargo holds of airplanes. They are screaming. They are in pain. They have been taken from their families. They are in anguish,” said Alka Chandna, the Vice President of Lab Investigations with PETA.
7News spoke to an Ethiopian Airlinesstaff member Friday who wasn’t happy with the screaming monkeys.
“Can you identify yourself?” asked 7News Investigative Reporter Scott Taylor.
“Talk to Emir,” said a staff member with Ethiopian Airlines.
“No, I’m talking to you,” said Taylor.
“I’m not. I’m not,” answered the staffer.
“Are you with the airline?” asked Taylor.
“I’m sorry, Sir. I am with Ethiopian,” said the staffer.
“Can you tell me why you guys are still transporting monkeys?” asked Taylor.
“You are not allowed to be here, please,” said a member of the staff.
A major concern in shipping monkeys is tracking whether they are carrying one of several pathogens that can harm humans.
“The people who are handling the crates, they are exposed. They are on the front lines of where the viruses can spill over into human beings,” said Alka Chandna, the Vice President of Lab Investigations with PETA.
Ethiopian Airlines in the past has stated it’s complied with all international rules and transports monkeys under legal permits.
Ethiopian Airlines has been cited by the USDA multiple times, including in July 2023 in Atlanta when it was transporting 336 monkeys without specific feeding and watering instructions attached to the monkey’s enclosure for their next 24 hours of travel. Also in January 2023, for transporting 584 monkeys into the U.S. without mandatory health certificates through its intermediate handler. It had no records of any health certificates when the monkeys arrived at Dulles Airport.
Several airlines that used to transport monkeys into the United States have stopped the practice including AELF Airlines, a private leasing company. Those changes in practices came after PETA protested and multiple stories were aired by the 7News I-Team.
The 7News I-Team broke the story last year of 1,000 monkeys flown from Cambodia into the U.S. through Dulles Airport.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department placed a hold on the entry of the monkeys which continues Friday because investigators can’t determine if the monkeys were brought in illegally. Are the monkeys born in a lab, a requirement to ship them into the U.S., or are the monkeys captured in the wild?
PETA wants the monkeys to be placed at Born Free USA a primate sanctuary in Texas but the monkeys are still being held at Charles River Labs including some in Frederick, Maryland.
Charles River Labs emailed 7News:
“Hi Scott,
Thanks for your interest.
As previously stated, while discussions with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are ongoing, we are continuing to care for the Cambodia-sourced non-human primates in the United States.
Best,
Amy”
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted eight people in Cambodia in connection to the shipments of possible illegal monkeys. Only one was ever tried in a U.S. court and was found not guilty.
“PETA just learned yesterday that Cambodian authorities have issued a decree (Khmer and English versions attached) that flings the doors wide open for more wild monkeys to be caught and funneled into the monkey farms of Cambodia. During the trial earlier this year, evidence was presented showing that an estimated 30,000 wild-caught monkeys were smuggled into the U.S. using falsified paperwork. And the judge acknowledged the evidence shows smuggling (but not conclusively by this defendant), but the other people who were indicted are in Cambodia and can’t be tried,” said Lisa Jones-Engel, Ph.D., Senior Science Advisor- Primate Experimentation Laboratory Investigations Department with PETA.
We asked U.S. Fish and Wildlife about the status of the monkeys being held at Charles River Labs:
“Thanks for your email. Unfortunately, we cannot offer comment at this time.
Laury Marshall
Assistant Chief, USFWS Public Affairs HQ”