PETA Alleges 'Monkeygate' at Fla. Breeding Farm

A disturbing PETA undercover video at Florida monkey breeding farm Primate Products shows macaques being grabbed by their tails, crowded into small cages, and clearly under stress. The monkeys at the Hendry County farm are imported from other countries and sent to clients such as the National Institutes of Health for experiments, according to the PETA report. The exposé led to a USDA investigation of Primate Products. "Here we have the greatest concentration of monkey farms in the world," PETA official Justin Goodman says, according to the Guardian. "They have no place in Hendry County and no place in the 21st century, and we want to see them all shut down."

The PETA undercover worker was employed at the facility for eight months, and the organization insists that the video is indicative of the treatment of Primate Products’ thousands of monkeys. Primate Products president Jeff Rowell admits that the video was "shocking," and pledged to address the husbandry violations. "I can’t just sit on my hands," he tells the News-Press. "I’m accountable to clients, I’m accountable to the county, and I’m accountable to the public… The biggest consequence is losing public trust. This is much harder to recover, but we are determined to try." The company is also being investigated by the county for alleged zoning violations. (More PETA stories.)