Why Canada's primate research must continue – a European Animal Research Association (EARA) comment 

The New Democratic Party in Canada has launched a petition to halt primate imports for biomedical research, based on a conflation of unproven allegations that could cost lives. While the petition is wrapped in animal conservation language, it conveniently ignores the human lives saved by the very research it seeks to abolish.

The core claim is that Canada is importing "wild-caught" monkeys laundered into the US as captive-bred. This is based on unproven allegations that have been categorically denied. The petition tries to leverage COVID-19 fears by claiming that it may have been a zoonotic disease, which is an undeniable contradiction, once the vaccines that saved millions of lives during the pandemic were developed using macaque models. Biomedical research, including primate research, when there is no viable alternative, lessens the risk of zoonotic diseases by allowing their study and the development of treatments and vaccines.

Long-tailed macaques are endangered primarily due to habitat loss from deforestation and agriculture, not biomedical research. Purpose-bred, captive, self-sufficient populations don't deplete wild populations. The petition demands the immediate suspension of all imports, with no transitional period, no consideration of ongoing research, and no acknowledgement that critical drug trials and vaccine development programs would be halted, potentially delaying treatments for cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and emerging infectious diseases.

Canada's stringent oversight framework ensures animals are used only when necessary and with minimal suffering. Canada won't end primate research; it will export it to countries with weaker protections while crippling our pandemic response capacity.

Read EARA’s full comment here.