Exposed: the hidden suffering of monkeys transported from Vietnam to Manchester Airport for UK testing laboratories

The hidden suffering of monkeys transported to the UK to be used in testing laboratories, has been revealed following the release of inspection reports and 'never-before-seen' photographs of monkeys inside transit crates destined for Manchester Airport. The findings have raised major animal welfare concerns, and renewed calls by animal protection groups, Cheshire Animal Rights Campaigns and Action for Primates and Animal Welfare Party, to the UK government and Manchester Airport to end the import of primates to the UK.

The reports and images were released to the Dutch-Belgian based organisation Animal Rights, following a freedom of information request submitted to Brussels Airport, a key transit hub for the global trade in monkeys. These reveal that thousands of long-tailed macaques, some just two years of age, are transported as cargo on airlines to Brussels airport each year, primarily from Mauritius and Vietnam. In some cases, the monkeys continue by air from Brussels to the UK or the USA. Others are transported by road to laboratories and suppliers across Europe.

Monkeys destined for the UK are transported from Brussels by cargo carriers to Manchester Airport. On arrival, the monkeys are loaded onto a truck and driven by road to their final destination – the testing laboratory, primarily contract testing facilities. At these laboratories, the monkeys are subjected to toxicity tests, the main area in which long-tailed macaques are used.

The photographs show distressed monkeys, including those destined for the UK, cowering inside the small wooden crates used to transport them, while the inspection reports reveal disturbing situations, including:

• On 28th May 2024, one monkey had a suspected rectal prolapse, yet inspectors at Brussels Airport allowed him to be loaded onto an aircraft and transported to Manchester Airport. Photographs show the rear end of the monkey stained with blood, and blood smeared on the inside of the crate.
• On 24th July 2023, inspectors at Brussels Airport reported that the temperature in the cargo hold of an aircraft could not be controlled and was estimated to be about 10°C, which they acknowledged ...is too cold for the animals. The transport was, nevertheless, approved to fly to Manchester Airport.
• On 17th July 2024, during an inspection of a shipment of monkeys destined for the USA, officials reported that one monkey was found dead in the transit crate.

Transportation by air is a stressful ordeal for monkeys, who may become so distressed that they can become ill or die in transit. Shipped as cargo, monkeys spend many hours confined singly in small transit crates, cruelly deprived of the companionship of others, whom they would normally hold onto for comfort under stressful conditions. Journey times to the final destination, including air and ground transit times, can be extremely long, and the monkeys may have to endure inadequate ventilation, unfamiliar and loud noise, extreme temperature fluctuations and delays en route.

Animal Welfare Party and Cheshire Animal Rights have been campaigning for Greater Manchester councils, who are stakeholders in Manchester Airport, to take a stand against the airport's role in the global primate trade. A 'Shareholder of Shame' protest is to be held outside Manchester City Council meeting on Wednesday 27th November, between 9-10AM at Manchester Town Hall, M2 5DB. Manchester City Council hold the largest share – 35% – in Manchester Airport. Further details: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=989343943229486

Jane Smith, deputy leader, Animal Welfare Party, said: The import of live monkeys destined for UK vivisection laboratories brings shame on Manchester Airports Group plc, its council stakeholders and the North West region. We are calling on MAG plc to end this horrific practice immediately as part of the movement to consign testing on primates to the dustbin of history where it belongs.

Hannah Bell, Cheshire Animal Rights Campaigns, stated: For decades, there have been calls for Manchester Airport to stop accepting flights that import animals for laboratories and in particular primates. It is a secretive business that took years of investigating to uncover. Thanks to the latest expose, we can put a face to the clandestine "cargo" that the airport accepts - and that face is utterly heartbreaking, the suffering unacceptable. Manchester Airport must stop facilitating this trade and close its gateway to hell on shipments of monkeys imported for laboratories.

Sarah Kite, Co-founder, Action for Primates, stated: These distressing revelations and images have placed the secretive world of the primate research and toxicity testing industry firmly in the spotlight. Sentient and intelligent monkeys are being subjected to a terrifying and traumatic ordeal as they are shipped as cargo in small crates on long journeys across the world to the UK. This is a cruel and inhumane trade in monkeys' lives and we call upon the UK Government to end it.

Long-tailed macaques are intelligent and highly social non-human primates with unique cultures and behaviours. They contribute to biodiversity and play an important ecological role in their native ecosystems. Their conservation status was recently elevated to Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, reinforcing the importance of protecting the specie

 Jail for women in UK monkey torture case

Two women have been imprisoned for their part in a global monkey torture ring that paid for and ordered baby monkeys to be tortured and killed in Indonesia to create videos to be circulated online. Holly LeGresley, who was sentenced to two years and Adriana Orme, who was sentenced to 15 months, both pleaded guilty to charges of publishing an obscene article and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

The sentences have been welcomed by animal protection groups Action for Primates and Lady Freethinker, who have spent over three years investigating the sadistic world of animal torture groups. The convictions are part of an international effort by law enforcement agencies in several countries, in particular the UK and the USA, to identify and prosecute those groups and individuals who facilitate the torture of baby monkeys. Several people in the USA are already serving prison sentences.

Sarah Kite, spokesperson for Action for Primates, and who assisted the UK police with their investigation, stated: We are extremely grateful to West Mercia Police for bringing these charges. Anyone involved in this type of behaviour must be held to account, and others need to know that such extreme cruelty and depravity will never be tolerated. We hope these sentences will deter others from becoming involved in these perverted and sadistic activities.

Nina Jackel, Founder, Lady Freethinker, stated: The horrors being inflicted on innocent, baby monkeys for online videos are sickening, and strong actions must be taken to protect animals from such brutality at the hands of humans. Those involved in the creation or distribution of animal torture content for 'enjoyment' pose a threat to both animals and humans, and they must be held accountable.

LeGresley and Orme were members of a Telegram group run by Michael Macartney from Virginia, USA, who called himself "the Torture King". Macartney, who was recently sentenced to three years and four months in prison for conspiring to make and distribute "animal crush" videos, ran several online Telegram groups that facilitated the 'torture, murder and sexually sadistic mutilation' of baby long-tailed macaques for 'fun'. LeGresley, who called herself "The Immolator", was an administrator of this group and even ran a poll for group members to vote on the method of torture they wanted to see inflicted upon a monkey for a video to be made, funded by the group. The choices included sealing a monkey inside a jar with red ants, applying a painful substance to the wounds created by a cheese grater or gluing together various parts of a monkey's body.

The perverted 'enjoyment' LeGresley and Orme obtained from watching baby monkeys brutally tortured and abused in the most sadistic ways is horrifying and evident in the sickening comments they made in group chats on Telegram:

Orme: I love mental torture. It's funny what you can reach and see how they change.
I would start fucking them up mentally, then slowly bit by bit physically, torture them, heal them, torture them, heal them. Keep them alive like this for as long as possible.
Yeah beatings or dragging and then feeding with its mouth taped lol.

LeGresley: I feel very satisfied when I see monkeys suffer too. It makes me happy.
I like it, the little rat got sliced up good and proper, and it survived long enough to suffer! whats the point in just killing them? Thats no fun.
I wonder if they could simply lower a baby monkey into boiling water. I'd quite like to see one try to swim as it burns alive.

Members of these online torture groups are primarily active on platforms such as Telegram and get 'pleasure' from watching helpless and vulnerable infant monkeys – some just a few days old – in terror and pain fighting for their lives. The extreme cruelty inflicted upon the baby monkeys included being set alight; having parts of their body cut off, including limbs, genitals, fingers and toes; their bones broken with a hammer; their heads squeezed in a clamp; beaten viciously; and having their eyes drilled out with a power tool.

The evidence obtained during the investigations by Action for Primates, a UK-based project that advocates globally on behalf of non-human primates, and Lady Freethinker, a US-based animal protection organisation, has been given to various law enforcement agencies and spurred the BBC investigation and documentary about online monkey torture gangs – "The Monkey Haters" – which helped lead to the inclusion of animal cruelty in the UK Online Safety Act.

Disturbingly, many graphic and violent videos paid for by members in Telegram groups – depicting extreme violence and sexual abuse inflicted upon baby monkeys, including genital mutilation – have appeared on mainstream social media platforms such as Facebook. By allowing these people to operate and post monkey torture content, social media companies are facilitating criminal activity on their platforms.

Notes to Editor:

About Action for Primates: Action for Primates is a UK-based project that campaigns on behalf of non-human primates globally. Action for Primates raises awareness about the plight of and threats to non-human primates around the world and works to end their exploitation, whether in captivity or in the wild. Action for Primates Website: https://actionforprimates.org/

About Lady Freethinker: Founded in 2013, LFT is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organisation dedicated to exposing and stopping the suffering of animals, humans and the planet. Through its undercover investigations, news reporting, and petitions, LFT brings to light suffering that may otherwise go ignored and works toward lasting, systemic change. LFT also provides direct aid to animal rescue. LFT Website: https://ladyfreethinker.org/

For further information:

Sarah Kite
E-mail: info@actionforprimates.org
Website: hhttps://actionforprimates.org/

Nina Jackel
E-mail: Nina.J@LadyFreethinker.org
Website: https://ladyfreethinker.org/