PETA complaint filed over monkey death at Salt River breeding facility
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An animal advocacy group has filed a complaint over the 2023 death of a pig-tailed monkey transported to the University of Washington from its East Valley center.
An animal advocacy group has filed a complaint over the 2023 death of a pig-tailed monkey transported to the University of Washington from its East Valley center.
The complaint — filed by People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals — said a 3-year-old female pig-tailed macaque died in September 2023 “while being trucked by JKL Secure Freight from the University of Washington breeding facility in Mesa to its laboratory in Seattle,” the May 15 complaint stated.
The complaint was filed with the animal and plant health inspection service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“(The fact that the East Valley primate center) is on tribal land means a lot of oversight that (would) exist at the state level isn’t there,” said Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, senior science adviser, primate experimentation at PETA.
The center is leased and operated by the University of Washington and sits on Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community land just north of Mesa.
The Arizona monkeys are used in “AIDS studies and other types of biomedical research” that aims to help in treatments for human diseases, according to the National Institutes of Health website.
The University of Washington signed its lease with Salt River in 2012 and began housing animals at the Arizona center in 2013, said Victor Balta, University of Washington spokesperson and assistant vice president for communications.
The university picked Arizona because the "pigtail macaque would not be appropriately housed outdoors in the Seattle" climate, Balta said.
UW pays $60,000 per year to lease the building.
There are about 500 monkeys currently at the site, he said.
In the 2023 incident, PETA found the “seemingly healthy macaque” died during its cross-country trip from Arizona to Washington after a records request to the University of Washington, the complaint stated.
“We are particularly concerned as three months ago, a whistleblower contacted PETA (and) they described a harrowing transport of monkeys in late September from Arizona to the University of Washington on a JKL truck — which broke down twice, making the trip hours longer,” the complaint stated.
“The first breakdown occurred when an engine went out, causing the truck to be stuck for five hours and leaving the monkeys without air conditioning for at least part of the time on a hot day. Later, the truck blew a tire, causing further delay,” according to the complaint. “We’ve been informed that an incident report should be filed by the driver(s) in situations involving the death of an animal during transport.”
PETA claims JKL staff “are apparently not appropriately qualified or trained to transport and monitor the condition of “vulnerable and valuable” monkeys.
“PETA’s whistleblower explained that open jobs are posted on Craigslist with no mention of the animals drivers would be transporting,” the complaint stated. “New employees receive no information or training regarding zoonotic diseases that monkeys used in experimentation are known to transmit or any animal-handling training.”
The training drivers do get is that they are “given a net and told that if monkeys escape, try to catch them with it,” according to the complaint.
Also alleged in the complaint is that the company’s workers have no training to assess the physical condition of the monkeys that spend days at a time in a trailer during transportation. Drivers often clean the vehicles at local car washes.
Officials from JKL Secure Freight could not be reached by Daily Independent presstime.
However, a University of Washington spokesperson said JKL took the blame for the mishap.
“The primate in question died in transport and the transit company bears full responsibility for this incident,” Balta said.
Another group, Stop Animal Exploitation Now, filed complaints about the Arizona primate center during the pandemic, according to Michael Budkie, the group’s executive director.
One complaint was about an incident that occurred in April 2020 where a male monkey “broke the locks and latch” on a cage that allowed the male monkey and his female “social partner” to escape the room, according to a University of Washington email associated with the complaint.
The incident resulted injuries to both animals and others housed in the room, the email stated.
State officials “have no statutory authority over this facility as it is on sovereign” land, said Robert Smook, spokesman for the animal services division at the Arizona Department of Agriculture.
Jones-Engel contends the Arizona facility “has been a problem” since it opened. The Arizona center is located on 21.14 acres of land located “northwest of the Indian School Road and Higley Road alignments, according to a lease agreement between Salt River and the Board of Regents of the University of Washington.
The University of Washington operates by using a truck service to transport monkeys, according to Jones-Engel.
“You do that so you don’t have people looking at what you are doing,” Jones-Engel said.
Salt River was contacted regarding the facility operation on tribal land but did not return information before this item was posted.
Brent Ruffner joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2021 where he writes about developments at TSMC and Maricopa County issues, including election topics.
He's written about stories that range from accusations that a Mesa monkey breeding facility is unsafe to what to do if you encounter a rattlesnake in the desert.
Community: He is a supporter of the American Cancer Society.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University, May 2007.
Random Fact: He met former San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays at a Phoenix Firebird game after winning a contest for an autographed baseball.
Hobbies: Hiking in the woods and collecting sports memorabilia.
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