Demand accountability from automakers behind monkey research!

At the end of January the world found out that automakers Volkswagon, Daimler and BMW funded a now-defunct research institute for the purpose of conducting experiments to prove that diesel-fueled vehicles are environmentally cleaner than the alternatives. The (failed) experiment involved locking 10 macaques in a chamber while diesel exhaust was piped in for up to eight hours. Imagine breathing in exhaust fumes for that length of time. For any length of time.

Executives from all three automakers have distanced themselves from the third-party experiment and denounced the use of the monkeys, and each has suspended an employee over the matter. But public apologies are not enough. If VW, Daimler and BMW truly want to express their regret, this petition asks that they each donate a minimum of five-million dollars to NAPSA (North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance), for NAPSA to distribute to its member sanctuaries as it sees fit, for the expansion of existing sanctuaries to accommodate more primates retired from laboratories.

These sanctuaries provide lifelong care to primates who are physically and psychologically damaged from their involuntary use in mostly failed research. As more primates are “retired”, the demand for more space and the cost of care will only increase. It seems fair that those who funded the research pay in some measure for their care.

Please sign and share the petition to ask the executives at Volkswagon, Daimler and BMW to back their apology in a substantial way to benefit the victims of the research they funded.