PETA US learned from a whistleblower that SkyTaxi flew more than 500 endangered long-tailed macaques to the US. The terrified animals arrived on 28 June after a 26-hour flight from Vietnam. The smell from their crates was overpowering, and the whistleblower said they were “leaky” – likely strewn with faeces and urine. Animal excrement can contain deadly pathogens that can infect humans, which puts staff at risk when removing the crates from the plane and creates a public health risk.
PETA US urged numerous federal agencies to inspect the shipment. The whistleblower said that none were present and that the unloading process was chaotic.
The flight was the second back-to-back shipment of monkeys on the same plane, which had flown monkeys from Mauritius to Houston, Texas, six days earlier. Without being properly cleaned or disinfected, the plane took off again less than 24 hours later, headed for Vietnam. PETA US is urging the US Department of Agriculture to investigate.
Facilities in Mauritius and Vietnam have experienced multiple outbreaks of highly contagious tuberculosis, which can spread to humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert after several types of pathogens were found in shipments of imported monkeys.
Most of SkyTaxi’s flights transporting monkeys have reportedly been on behalf of monkey-killer Charles River Laboratories, which is under civil and criminal investigation by US federal authorities for alleged illegal importation of the animals from Cambodia.
PETA US and its partners have written two letters to SkyTaxi CEO Greg Rybczynski alerting him to the many dangers of monkey transport. A PETA US supporter even hand-delivered another letter to SkyTaxi’s headquarters in Poland.
Pressure from PETA supporters like you has driven nearly every air carrier on the planet away from this bloody business. We’re asking that you help monkeys again: please, send a letter to SkyTaxi urging it to stop flying these animals to their death.
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