ADI: 'Monkey' bid to hit the charts for iunternational primate day.

Monday, 20 August 2007 12:00 AM

Animal lovers around the world are being urged to download the song, "Monkey in a Cage" from its release day, today, to get it into the UK Top 10 by International Primate Day (IPD) on 1st September and help laboratory monkeys.

"Monkey in a Cage" is a powerful protest song written and performed by internationally acclaimed artist, Maria Daines, who last autumn signed up to the Berlin Declaration[1], which calls for an end to experiments on primates.

Maria Daines explains: "For too many years primates have been incarcerated behind the walls of impenetrable establishments in the name of animal research. Advances in science show that testing on primates is unnecessary. When the opportunity arose to give a voice to the plight of these poor creatures it was an easy song to write, just imagine you are the monkey in a cage."

"Monkey in a Cage" has been successful on independent music charts and Maria will be supporting pop singer "Pink" at the launch of "Party For Animals World Wide", at Cardiff International Arena, on the 21 August and recommending the track to animal lovers worldwide, who are being asked to download it from its release day - 20th August - to hit the charts in time for IPD on 1st September.

Jan Creamer, chief executive of ADI, said: "Monkey in a Cage" will also highlight Written Declaration 40/2007 which is currently before the European Parliament and calls for a timetable to end all experiments on primates across Europe.

To date, 296 MEPs have signed this important Declaration, with a total of 394 needed by 7 September. It is vital that people contact their MEPs before then and urge them to sign the Declaration."

See MEPs who have signed the Declaration and find out how to contact your MEPs at:

http://www.ad-international.org/mmap/go.php?id=827&ssi=60

Advice and guidance for this project has been given generously by a music promoter working with Sting and Sheryl Crow. It is estimated that as few as 8,000 downloads are needed to put the plight of laboratory primates into the charts.

For information on how to download the track, visit:

http://www.againstprimateexperiments.com

______________________________ENDS____________________________

For further information, contact:

Allison Tuffrey Jones, ADI Press Office, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

Tel: 020 7630 9159/ 020 7630 3344

Mob: 07785 552548

Email: pr@ad-international.org

NOTES TO EDITORS

International Primate Day was founded in 2005 by Animal Defenders International ADI, as part of our 'My Mate's a Primate' campaign which is an alert to the four major threats to the very survival of some of the non-human primate nations - the bushmeat, laboratory, pet, and entertainment trades.

The USA is the largest user of laboratory primates in the world. The UK is the largest user of laboratory monkeys in the EU with primate tests up in 2005. Three countries, the UK, France and Germany are responsible for almost all of the 10,000 experiments on monkeys in the EU2.

The Spanish monkey dealer exposed by ADI is importing macaque monkeys from Mauritius. It will have an estimated capacity for 3,000 macaque - almost half of the EU's annual macaque use (75-80% of all laboratory monkeys used in the EU are macaques[2] .

To mark International Primate Day in 2006, ADI organised motions to be simultaneously placed before the European Parliament and the US House of Representatives calling for an end to experiments on non-human primates. Motions were also tabled in the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. This is believed to be the first time that a global animal protection campaign had been initiated in the US and European Parliaments on the same day, and signaled the start to an international drive to end non-human primate experiments.

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