47 Monkeys Died in a Colombian Laboratory—Help End the Horror

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Update (August 15, 2025): Progress! The Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), a facility that PETA exposed in 2024, has shut down. For 40 years, the owner of this laboratory snatched owl monkeys from forests and tormented them in pointless experiments for a malaria vaccine that was never produced.

The W comes on the heels of Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development’s commitment to reviewing current regulations and exploring ways to protect monkeys from being captured for use in biomedical experiments after hearing from PETA and more than 56,000 PETA supporters.

Now, it’s time for the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation to take the next step: Ban the use of monkeys in these experiments altogether. Take action now!

Originally published on June 3, 2024:
PETA got records proving that 47 monkeys—most of them members of a now-endangered species—died in just 14 months as a result of abuse and neglect in a Colombian laboratory. Please help prevent other monkeys from being ripped from their forest homes and used in pointless experiments by urging the Colombian gov to take immediate action!

What Happened?
At a Colombian laboratory called Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia, experimenters used now-endangered monkeys in unapproved COVID-19 experiments. They also denied these animals veterinary care, leaving some to die painfully of tetanus or sepsis.

Records show that 47 monkeys—12% of those caged there—died between March 2021 and May 2022 from causes including choking, heart attacks, “cannibalism,” “hypothermia,” “heat stress,” and a “severe hemorrhage.”

As if we needed more proof that this laboratory was a hot mess, 19 monkeys escaped through openings in its walls and ceilings. 🤦‍♀️ Inspection records also show that some monkeys were underweight, had eye problems, had pulled out their hair, displayed signs of malnutrition, and had other serious health issues.

The passing of monkey experimenter Manuel Elkin Patarroyo shouldn’t stop authorities from continuing their investigation into the apparent violations of animal welfare regulations at his decrepit laboratory in the Amazonas, where monkeys endured horrible deaths.

Please urge the Colombian gov to ban the abduction of monkeys for use in biomedical experiments!

View Message +

Yesenia

Olaya

Colombia's Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation

Message to {contact_data~firstName} {contact_data~lastName}:

I’m writing to urge you to ban the use of monkeys for questionable biomedical experiments, such as the flawed malaria tests performed at the Caucaseco Scientific Research Center and the Foundation Institute of Immunology of Colombia. Seven decades combined of their sham research only produced animal suffering and death. No effective malaria vaccine for humans was ever developed at these facilities. Evidence from these places only showed a lack of scientific integrity and egregious animal welfare, environmental, and public health violations.

The scientific community has increasingly acknowledged that the use of animals is not the way to developing treatments and cures for humans. For instance, 95% of new medications deemed safe and effective in animal testing fail when tested in humans. In the case of monkeys, decades of experiments across various research areas, including immunology, have proven to be useless.

Today, advanced non-animal research methods such as organ-on-a-chip technology, 3D cell cultures, and AI modeling offer more accurate, ethical, and cost-effective alternatives. Colombia has the opportunity to promote robust, ethical science by banning the use of monkeys in outdated biomedical experiments.

Please take action before more monkeys die in pointless and cruel biomedical experiments.

Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}
{user_data~EMail Address}

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47 Monkeys Died in a Colombian Laboratory—Help End the Horror

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