JENKINTOWN, Pa., June 23, 2026 — In a letter submitted last week to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the nonprofit American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) blasted what it called “alarmist, inflammatory conjecture” from animal researchers, and endorsed the CDC’s historic initial decision to send well over 100 macaque monkeys to the Born Free USA sanctuary in Texas. This move ends the CDC’s invasive primate experimentation program that used monkeys in HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious disease research.

AAVS told the CDC that critics from the animal research industry, such as the National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs), praise standards, accreditation and oversight designed for animal experimentation, not permanent sanctuary retirement. Peer-reviewed papers have stated that, unlike animal research facilities, sanctuaries like Born Free USA that are accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) “prioritize the well-being of their residents above other potential interests, including research.” Their missions are rescue and rehabilitation.

On June 22, Science magazine reported that the CDC has now initiated a bid process, after written complaints from the NPRCs and their allies, such as the for-profit primate supplier Alpha Genesis, regarding the CDC’s initial decision to send the monkeys to Born Free. The CDC’s new bid process requires GFAS accreditation and will only consider offerors that provide “humane long-term sanctuary.”

“This is the largest group of monkeys that will ever be released to sanctuary from a government lab, and that needs to be the focus: sanctuary care,” said AAVS President Luke Klein. AAVS has supported sanctuaries for animals formerly used in research with over $5 million in funding. “We applaud the CDC’s ethical, compassionate and groundbreaking bid process that requires GFAS accreditation and ‘safe, compliant’ sanctuary care. We wholeheartedly support any appropriate GFAS-accredited sanctuary’s receiving these monkeys.” He noted that AAVS has provided Born Free with financial support for years, and “continues to believe that the CDC’s initial decision to send the monkeys to this exemplary sanctuary is justified.”

Although the NPRCs, Alpha Genesis, and other animal experimenters argue that the CDC’s initial decision to relocate the macaques to Born Free USA was reckless, this sanctuary has existed since 1972. It has been repeatedly accredited by GFAS, which requires rigorous welfare standards for animal acquisition, transport, social housing, veterinary care, quarantine, behavioral management and lifelong sanctuary care. AAVS has funded the Texas sanctuary for years, with its first grant in 1982.

In its June 17 letter, AAVS pointed out that federal oversight by the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare relies on a trust relationship with labs, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has no power to enforce the Animal Welfare Act at federal research facilities such as the CDC. AAVS argued that this regulatory framework is not relevant to permanent sanctuary retirement, where the purpose, goals, and environment fundamentally differ from research facilities.

AAVS also noted what it called the “problematic” animal welfare record of the University of Washington (UW), which has been one of the most prominent voices criticizing the agency’s initial decision to send the monkeys to permanent sanctuary at Born Free. UW has paid four animal welfare fines since 1995. Since its most recent fine in 2022—for multiple primate deaths and injuries—UW has earned five more critical citations from the USDA, with three involving more primate deaths. The most recent, in January 2026, documented UW staff taking an infant primate to necropsy while she was still alive.

AAVS told the CDC that a July 2025 USDA inspection report directly implicated UW’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)—the body meant to ensure animal welfare—with undercutting the authority of the university’s attending veterinarian, the person responsible for providing adequate veterinary care. According to AAVS, this is the only such USDA citation, out of over 15,000 research inspections conducted since 2014. Five weeks after this singular USDA finding, UW praised its IACUC—which the USDA has cited in six separate inspection reports since 2014—in the pages of Science magazine.

AAVS also told the CDC that UW’s Director of Operations has long been critical of sending animals to sanctuary, and last month publicly criticized the agency’s initial decision to send the monkeys to Born Free.

Today, AAVS pointed out that Alpha Genesis paid a USDA fine in 2017, which included multiple escapes of primates. Since then, more primates have escaped, including 43 in November 2024, which garnered international headlines. Later that month, 22 monkeys died from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning, which Science magazine said was likely the “largest mass casualty event involving research primates” since 2013. Alpha Genesis had wanted the monkeys from CDC for biomedical experimentation, not sanctuary retirement.

“AAVS played a key role in the passage of the original CHIMP Act, which paved the way for ending invasive experimentation on chimpanzees,” said AAVS Senior Policy Advisor Eric Kleiman, who was centrally involved in the successful campaign to end chimp experimentation. “Many of the same voices criticizing the CDC’s initial decision to send the monkeys to Born Free also fought tooth and nail against ending experimentation on chimps. These industry doomsayers were wrong then, and they’re wrong now.” The retired chimpanzees are flourishing in sanctuary, and according to AAVS, the CDC monkeys will also flourish at any GFAS-accredited sanctuary that will provide humane long-term retirement.

“Let’s be real: Many of these critics would just as soon have these monkeys back in invasive experimentation,” concluded Kleiman. “The CDC’s bold, compassionate move could set a precedent for permanently retiring all monkeys used in government research. And that’s what the primate research centers and Alpha Genesis don’t want.”

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The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) was founded in 1883 and is the oldest nonprofit organization in the United States dedicated to ending the use of animals in research, testing and education. AAVS also opposes and works to end other forms of cruelty to animals. AAVS engages constructively with a broad range of constituencies to achieve meaningful, lasting change through education, advocacy and the development of alternative non-animal methods.

CONTACT:

Eric Kleiman, Senior Policy Advisor

E-mail: ekleiman@aavs.org

Phone: 215-887-0816, ext. 318