In a year, the number of primates and their parts that were imported to the UK for lab testing has tripled in a year to over 6,700, according to the Independent. In the country, authorities increased the number of permits and therefore increased the number of monkeys to 6,752. Monkey tissue parts that were tested on also increased.

Activists are asking why the numbers increased at such a high rate. The long-tailed macaques were imported from Mauritius and Vietnam.

Sarah Kite, of Action for Primates (AfP) is asking the government to share its reasons for the steep increase. Data shows that the monkeys were tested for chemical and drug toxicity. “The UK has, over the years, continued to perpetuate a trade that centres on the cruel trapping of wild animals. The capture of wild monkeys inflicts significant suffering and distress. Primates are highly social animals, and trapping and removing them from their habitats, families and social groups is cruel. It can also result in injuries or even death,” Kite told the Independent.

Animal testing is a useless and unethical part of scientific research, the testing is found to be ineffective, as 95% of drugs that pass animal tests fail on humans. Numerous companies are standing up against animal testing and recently the USDA made a decision to eliminate some mammalian testing by 2025 but there’s more to be done and it’s time countries ban animal experimentation all together as it hurts humans as well.

Sign this petition and stand against animal testing in the UK!

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