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Update (February 3, 2025): Following our complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency has cited Alpha Genesis for a critical violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act for the suffocation deaths of 22 monkeys. We had received reports from whistleblowers that these endangered, long-tailed macaques died from carbon monoxide poisoning in November after a diesel heater malfunctioned. Reportedly, there were no alarms or alerts, as the animals endured agonizing pain. This is no accident—it’s a deadly pattern, bankrolled by $19 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) contracts. Alpha Genesis has repeatedly failed to meet even the bare minimum standards for animal welfare. Federal agencies should be prohibited from throwing taxpayer dollars at a facility with a documented history of negligence, cruelty, and deceit.
Meanwhile, this notorious monkey dealer claims that all 43 monkeys who escaped from its prison last year have been recaptured. PETA highly doubts that since the company has too sordid a history of lying and obfuscating to be believed. And witnesses in the community reported to PETA that at least one monkey was hit by a car and killed. We demand proof of life, including the release of the records identifying the monkeys and evidence that the animals correspond to that paperwork.
Since the monkeys who were allegedly recaptured should never be used for any scientific studies—their exposure to wildlife and other unknowns would compromise experimental results—PETA is again asking NIH—which owns them—to release the animals. We have funding from a generous donor and an accredited sanctuary that will welcome them. Please take action below. For once, NIH needs to do right by animals rather than exploit them in meaningless tests irrelevant to humans.
Original Post:
If you’ve seen the news about 43 monkeys who busted out of their Alpha Genesis prison in South Carolina in early November, you’re prob rooting for the monkeys—and we are, too.
They outsmarted their tormentors. They bested their oppressors. Even though they were forced to live in misery, they held onto the tiny spark inside them that the experimenters couldn’t touch. And one day, they tasted freedom! 🙌
This sounds straight out of a movie, but it’s real life— and the ugly truth is that a happy ending isn’t in the bag.
The monkeys were brought to Alpha Genesis from Morgan Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, where several thousand free-ranging rhesus macaques have lived for over four generations. It’s basically a feeder colony run by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). When the agency needs new monkeys to torment, it plucks them from the island.
Alpha Genesis, a stunningly incompetent company with $19 million in current NIH contracts, has allowed 109 monkeys in 12 separate documented incidents to escape in the last decade. 😶
The federal gov has cited the company several times after employee incompetence killed monkeys, including several who froze to death after being left out in the cold, a monkey who died of thirst after the water was turned off for maintenance and never turned back on, and an infant who got trapped in gauze and died. 😢
According to a whistleblower, multiple animals have been found dead in their cages due to trauma, exposure to extreme temps, and untreated health conditions.
One monkey was found dead and covered in feces after her head became stuck in a chain link fence. Another evidently suffocated to death after being trapped under other monkeys, and an infant died after getting caught in a slide bolt lock. Yet another monkey strangled to death after getting caught in a piece of gauze.
Employees reportedly handle monkeys with complete disregard for their well-being. A worker carelessly pulled the squeeze mechanism in a monkey’s cage (used to pull monkeys forward for injections or capture), cutting off the animal’s tail. Another monkey suffered a fracture to their upper arm bone after a staffer caught the animal in a net and then slammed them to the ground. Many monkeys lost at least half of their tongues, either during violent fights with other monkeys or getting caught in caging or chain links. (Read more about the company’s long list of animal welfare violations here.)
These are the conditions from which the 43 monkeys escaped.
They Can’t Go Back
Born Free USA has offered to work with Alpha Genesis to provide the animals a suitable home at its Texas-based primate sanctuary. Anonymous donors have committed $250,000 for the long-term care of any of the escaped monkeys once transferred to the sanctuary. All the pieces are in place—now, we need to get NIH to do the right thing. Please help TODAY by urging the agency to send all 43 monkeys to live their lives peacefully. 🐒