MPs support BUAV call for airlines to stop shipping monkeys for experiments

Tuesday, 12 July 2011 3:29 PM

MPs support BUAV call for airlines to stop shipping monkeys for experiments

An Early Day Motion (EDM 2014) tabled by Bob Russell – Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester – is supporting BUAV’s Cargo Cruelty campaign and urging the Government to call on airlines to stop transporting monkeys around the world for research (1).

Bob Russell MP said: “I think it will come as a shock to many people that there are airlines which are involved in this appalling business. It is great that three of Britain’s major airlines do not. Consumer power is now needed to stop other airlines that transport primates. I urge people who are flying overseas to only use airlines whose policy is not to engage in this unethical business.”

The BUAV campaign highlights the role airlines play in the international trade in primates for research, and encourages airlines to adopt a policy to stop transporting monkeys for research and join the growing list of airlines which do not accept such shipments, including in the UK British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and British Midland: www.buav.org/our-campaigns/primate-campaign/primate-cargo-cruelty/airlines-stance. The campaign is also backed by Ricky Gervais who has spoken out against airlines which continue to transport primates for the research industry.

Monkeys are transported from countries including Mauritius, Vietnam, St Kitts, China and Cambodia for laboratories around the world where they will suffer and most will die in experiments. Some of these primates are captured from the wild, others are bred in captivity and their offspring exported. They are packed into small wooden crates and travel as cargo on flights where they can be subjected to delays, poor ventilation, noise, and temperature fluctuations and may suffer illness and even death in transit.

BUAV’s Chief Executive, Michelle Thew, states:

“We are delighted to receive support from MPs on this important animal welfare issue. Airlines play a key role in this chain of suffering. We call on members of the public to ask their own MP to sign EDM 2014, and visit www.buav.org before booking flights to check which airlines carry primates for experiments.”

NOTES

1) http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-11/2014

“That this House congratulates those passenger airlines that have dissociated themselves from the cruelty of the international trade in primates for research; welcomes the campaign by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection to highlight the key role airlines play in transporting thousands of primates around the world each year from such countries as Mauritius, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia and Barbados for laboratories in the UK, elsewhere in Europe, USA and Japan; notes that the primates are ripped from their family and social groups, packed into small wooden crates and travel as cargo, predominantly on passenger flights; can be subject to delays, poor ventilation, noise, and temperature fluctuations and may suffer illness and even death in transit; and urges the Government to call on other airlines to join British Airways, British Midland, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Northwest Airlines, Qantas, South African Airways, Delta Airlines, Eva Air, China Airlines and many others in refusing to conduct this trade.”

ENDS

For further information, video footage and photographs from BUAV’s primate trade and transportation investigations, please contact BUAV’s Media Office:

fleur.dawes@buav.org
+44 (0) 7850 510 955
+44 (0) 207 619 6978

www.buav.org

BUAV is a widely respected international authority on animal testing issues and is frequently called upon by governments, media, corporations and official bodies for its advice and expert opinion. BUAV has been campaigning for over 100 years for a world where nobody wants or believes we need to experiment on animals.


Fleur Dawes
Media Officer

British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV)
16a Crane Grove
London N7 8NN
Direct: +44 (0) 20 7619 6978
Out-of-hours: +44 (0) 7850 510 955
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7700 0252

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