Charles Rivers recommends against PETA's proposal for transparency on lab monkeys

Inotiv

31/03/2023 13:02

March 31 (Reuters) - The board of Charles River
Laboratories  CRL.N  has unanimously recommended against a
shareholder proposal requiring transparency on its import
practices of lab monkeys, according to a regulatory filing by
the U.S. contract research organization firm. 
    The proposal, brought forward by animal rights non-profit
PETA, suggests Charles River annually disclose the species and
the country of origin of the non-human primates (NHP) that it
imports into the United States as a part of animal research
services it offers to drug developers.
    PETA's proposal also demands information on whether the
monkeys are caught in the wild or bred in captivity. 
    Charles River shareholders will vote on PETA and other
proposals from the board at the company's annual meeting on May
9.
    The company is under investigation by the Department of
Justice and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its shipment of
monkeys from Cambodia, which it suspended in February. 
    The Charles River case will run parallel to an industry-wide
investigation by the United States regulatory authorities into
the supply of NHP from Cambodia, which some analysts believe
make up over 60% of the total U.S. NHP imports.
    The Department of Justice in November charged members of an
international primate smuggling ring with multiple felonies for
their role in bringing wild long-tailed macaques into the United
States.
    According to government estimates, 95% of the 92,430 monkeys
brought into the U.S. between 2019 and 2021 were long-tailed
macaques. 
    The macaques are protected under the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) and require special permits to be imported into
the United States.  
   While Charles River's board recommended against PETA's
proposal, it said the company will include information on how
its "imports are purpose-bred in accordance with applicable
laws" in its 2024 annual report, the filing on Thursday showed.
    


 (Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
 ((Bhanvi.Satija@thomsonreuters.com; Outside U.S. +91
9873062788;))