Save Monkeys from the Cruel Pet Trade
An estimated 15,000 monkeys are kept as pets in the United States, forced to live in squalid and unnatural conditions in homes, yards, and garages around the country.
The primate pet trade rips baby monkeys from their mothers, promotes inhumane practices such as teeth removal, and presents a serious public safety hazard. Keeping wild animals as pets is inherently dangerous, and every month there are news stories of the latest escapes, bites, and attacks.
Born Free USA runs one of the largest primate sanctuaries in the U.S., and we see first-hand how terribly monkeys suffer from being kept as pets.
It's time to end this cruelty once and for all, and you can help.
The Captive Primate Safety Act would ban the private keeping of primates as pets in the U.S., ending a cruel and dangerous trade that threatens public safety and animal welfare. Demand your legislators co-sponsor this crucial legislation to save animals!
I am writing to ask you to become a co-sponsor of the Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R. 3199/S. 1594). This important legislation will ban the private keeping of primates as pets in the United States, closing the door on a cruel and dangerous trade which threatens public safety and animal welfare.
Primates are profoundly sentient, intelligent, and complex wild animals. Not only do primates suffer when kept as pets, they present significant risk to the owners and others who come into contact with them.
In the event of escape it is often first responders who are tasked with dealing with the fallout, often with fatal consequences for the animal, and at great risk to themselves. First responders are not trained to deal with wild animal escapes, meaning that each one creates a situation which is dangerous and unpredictable. In addition to the risk of serious injury from a privately kept monkey, primates also carry diseases which can be fatal to human beings. For example, macaque monkeys, who are commonly kept as pets, are carriers of the Herpes B virus. If contracted and untreated, Herpes B is fatal in humans 70-80% of the time.
The trade in private ownership of primates must stop. I implore you to become a co-sponsor of the Captive Primate Safety Act today.
