We need you to help put a stop to cruelty to animals. Your special donation will immediately go to work helping to prevent animals from suffering and dying in laboratories, on factory farms, in the fur industry, and in circuses and other industries in which they’re used for entertainment.
Who was Augustus? Augustus was one of the 17 macaques now known as the “Silver Spring monkeys”, most of whom were taken from their jungle homes in the late 1970s and purchased by animal experimenter Edward Taub for testing purposes. After PETA US exposed the extreme cruelty and neglect that were being inflicted on Augustus and the others in Taub’s laboratory at the Institute for Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, the police raided it and Taub became the first experimenter to be convicted of cruelty to animals.
During the legal battle that went on for years, PETA US succeeded in getting five of the monkeys transferred to indoor/outdoor enclosures at the San Diego Zoo, where they could live together and were never put on display. However, despite the custody battles, most of the monkeys were killed by experimenters, including Augustus, who died in July 1990 at the Delta Regional Primate Research Center (now called Tulane National Primate Research Center) in Louisiana.
Our Augustus Club honours those who are leaving a legacy for animals through a planned gift to PETA. Augustus’ noble image, dignity, and innocence make him a fitting symbol of the plight of all animals who have endured – and are still enduring – abuse at the hands of humans.
Won’t you make a significant contribution towards ending animal abuse and suffering around the world with your special gift right now?
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