Urging USDA to Protect the Psychological Well-being of Primates

In 2015, the Animal Legal Defense Fund submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in support of necessary regulatory changes to protect these primates’ psychological well-being. The USDA solicited public comments on the issue in response to a petition for rulemaking that Animal Legal Defense Fund filed in 2014 along with the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, and Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group.

We urged this agency, charged with enforcing the federal “Animal (AWA) to enact regulations that would better fulfill the law’s purpose: The AWA exists in part to “insure… humane care and treatment” of animals used by dealers, exhibitors and research facilities. Our requests to the agency garnered support from primatologists, members of the scientific community, animal protection organizations, and the general public.

As of 2018, the agency has failed to issue appropriate any new regulations which would better protect the psychological well-being of primates used in laboratory research. The Animal Legal Defense Fund continues to advocate for the primates and other animals used in laboratory experiments.