Critical Situation for Nepal Monkeys Headed for US Vivisection Laboratories
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Nepal Consulate Office – New York City
Over a dozen activists gathered on Second Avenue and 44th Street in New York City at the building the houses the Nepal Consulate to the United States. Poignant and heart wrenching posters were displayed and flyers were distributed to educate the public about the impending traffic in monkeys from a breeding farm in Nepal to vivisection laboratories in the United States.
Despite the fact that monkeys are treated with deference in Nepal, a past government made a deal to breed and export monkeys to the United States. The new government must now decide what to do. The population of Nepal is against transporting the monkeys; but, the American pharmaceutical lobby is attempting to bully them into submission.
Many stopped to find out what the protest was about and to ask questions about the pictures that were displayed on signs and posters. A woman, who worked in the building, took a supply of the flyers and paid a visit to her neighbors at the Nepal Consulate.
While activists lined the sidewalk in front of the Consulate and busily engaged in conversations with passersby, the Consul General of Nepal walked past the protest, stopping to read each poster. He entered the building without speaking to the activists, no doubt he is somewhat embarrassed as the last time he spoke he assured the activists that Nepal would NEVER EVER export those monkeys that are now in imminent danger of being shipped to the USA.
The global campaign to stop the transport of the Nepalese monkeys is now ramping up and being switched to high gear. The activist community knows that the captive monkeys will be subjected to horrible conditions and potentially terrible cruelty, if they even survive transport. Petitions, letter writing and e-mail campaigns have put a spotlight on Nepal, which is heavily dependent on tourism.
The whole world is watching, Nepal. Do the right thing and set the monkeys free.
