'Ill-treated' monkeys may be bound for UK laboratories
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The RSPCA says monkeys shipped to European labs for
experiments are prone to uncontrollable masturbation.

A dossier on the trade compiled by the charity is to be sent to the
Home Office.

The report, Caged and Horney, follows an undercover operation in
which investigators took secret footage of a breeding centre in
Mauritius.

Macaque monkeys at the Centre de Recherches Primatologiques
(CRP) are among thousands exported to European research labs
every year.

The film shows animals being held in barren, filthy cages,
sometimes masturbating over the dead bodies of their group mates.

Although CRP does not currently supply British researchers, the
Home Office confirmed it had received an application from the
centre for a licence to sell primates to the UK.

A spokeswoman said: "We are aware of this particular centre. The
UK hasn't used any primates from this centre, but we are currently
considering an application from them.

"We will consider all the relevant information in the reports
available to us before making a decision."

RSPCA primatologist Dr Mark Prescott, said: "Many breeding
centres overseas replenish their breeding animals with primates
captured from the wild or taken from children in their homes.

"A lot of work has been done to highlight the masturbation prone to
primates in experiments, but our evidence highlights a whole
other area of masturbation that we believe is not being taken into
account in decisions about whether the use of primates is
justified."