Primate Breeding Facility Plans To Expand, Continuing To Endanger Long-Tailed Macaque Monkeys

In troubling news, Safer Human Medicine (SHM), the company behind a large monkey-breeding facility in Bainbridge, Georgia, has acquired a new facility in LaBelle, Florida. This expansion will house more primates for biomedical research, raising serious concerns about the increased suffering of these animals as they face captivity and experimentation.

The new facility will support a massive $396 million breeding complex in Bainbridge which aims to house up to 30,000 long-tailed macaques—three times the number currently housed at any other U.S. breeding facility.

PETA has uncovered disturbing details involving SHM’s executives and Charles River Laboratories, a company already under scrutiny for unethical practices regarding long-tailed macaques. SHM denies the allegations, but their leadership has a history of involvement in controversial animal welfare issues.

SHM’s CEO previously served as the COO of Envigo, the company behind a dog-breeding facility in Virginia that was shut down after a federal investigation revealed horrific conditions. Envigo was convicted of violating the Animal Welfare Act and fined the largest amount ever in such a case. Furthermore, SHM’s president and COO have ties to Charles River Laboratories, which is currently under federal investigation for its handling of macaques shipped from Cambodia.

Long-tailed macaques were classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2022, with their population having plummeted by 80% over the last 35 years, largely due to the demands of the biomedical research industry. Despite this, the industry is pushing to have their endangered status removed, further endangering these already vulnerable animals.

SHM’s planned Georgia facility is already embroiled in legal battles with local residents, who are understandably concerned about the potential environmental and ethical consequences. This concern was only heightened when 43 rhesus macaques escaped from a primate research facility in South Carolina in November, putting both the monkeys and the surrounding community at risk.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has voiced its concerns about SHM’s plans, which threaten to worsen the plight of endangered species and intensify the exploitation of primates for biomedical research. As legal battles continue, the fate of these facilities and the well-being of non-human primates remain uncertain.

These intelligent, social animals are not mere objects for experimentation—they are living beings with families, bonds, and the right to live freely in their natural environments. Long-tailed macaques, like all wildlife, deserve to remain in the wild, not endure the cruel confinement and suffering of biomedical research. It is time we acknowledge their inherent value and protect them from exploitation.