Kennedy Pushes End to Monkey Testing, Points to NIH Rule Shift [WATCH]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is raising concerns about the widespread use of non-human primates in American research laboratories, citing both the scale of the practice and what he describes as a need for more humane and scientifically effective alternatives.

In remarks addressing the issue, Kennedy said there are currently tens of thousands of primates held in research facilities across the United States, with thousands more brought into the country each year for experimentation.

“Yeah, there are 100,000 monkeys, primates, non human, primates, that are in primate labs around the country for research purposes,” Kennedy said.

“There’s another 20,000 that are imported every year, and we’re very concerned about that.”

Kennedy said his efforts are focused on ending the practice entirely, arguing that the treatment of animals reflects broader national values.

“We’re trying to put an end to that completely,” he said.

“And the badge of a really humane nation is the way that it takes care of not of its animals.”

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Beyond ethical concerns, Kennedy also emphasized what he sees as scientific shortcomings in relying on primate testing.

He said his organization is working to shift researchers toward alternative research models that better reflect human biology and health outcomes.

“One of the things that we’re doing is that we’re re educating researchers so that they know that there is these other forms of research that are much more predictive of human health outcomes,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy also highlighted a recent policy change at the National Institutes of Health that he said represents a major step forward in reducing harm to laboratory primates.

According to Kennedy, the NIH modified its rules in September to allow researchers greater flexibility in how animals are treated once experiments conclude.

“We’re also in September, we changed the rules at NIH to make it so that researchers can use part of their NIH funding to retire their primates to sanctuaries after the experimentation is done,” Kennedy said.

He noted that prior to the rule change, researchers had few options once studies were completed.

“Until now, there was no option like that, no alternative except the researcher euthanized that animal after they went through,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said efforts are now underway to expand sanctuary capacity nationwide so that retired research primates have a place to live following experimentation.

“Now we’re developing sanctuaries across the country,” he said.

WATCH:

🚨 RFK JR: “There are 100,000 monkeys that are in primate labs around the country for research purposes. There’s another 20,000 that are imported every year … We’re trying to put an end to that, completely.”
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