Harvard Announces Closure of Primate Research Center April 24th

Har­vard Med­ical School has issued a state­ment announc­ing that the New Eng­land Pri­mate Research Cen­ter will be clos­ing with­in 24 months. Harvard’s New Eng­land Pri­mate Research Cen­ter has been embroiled in an ongo­ing con­tro­ver­sy fol­low­ing the neg­li­gent deaths of at least 4 pri­mates.

Har­vard Med­ical School has issued a state­ment announc­ing that the New Eng­land Pri­mate Research Cen­ter will be clos­ing with­in 24 months. Harvard’s New Eng­land Pri­mate Research Cen­ter has been embroiled in an ongo­ing con­tro­ver­sy fol­low­ing the neg­li­gent deaths of at least 4 pri­mates. The facil­i­ty is cur­rent­ly under inves­ti­ga­tion by the USDA and faces a poten­tial­ly major fed­er­al fine for mul­ti­ple vio­la­tions of the Ani­mal Wel­fare Act. “Har­vard wants the pub­lic to believe that this clo­sure is due to eco­nom­ics,” said Michael A. Bud­kie, A.H.T., Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, SAEN (Stop Ani­mal Exploita­tion NOW!). “That is sim­ply not true. The only way Har­vard could quash this scan­dal is to close the pri­mate cen­ter, because even last year’s res­ig­na­tion of the Center’s Direc­tor could not end their inep­ti­tude. This clo­sure is the direct result of pres­sure from activists led by SAEN.” “The clo­sure of Harvard’s Pri­mate Research Cen­ter is the best news I have ever heard,” added Bud­kie. “The poten­tial exists to bring free­dom to many mon­keys and to redi­rect mil­lions of dol­lars into clin­i­cal and epi­demi­o­log­i­cal research which will more direct­ly ben­e­fit humans.” SAEN has announced plans to con­tact the Har­vard Med­ical School’s admin­is­tra­tion to explore the pos­si­bil­i­ty of plac­ing at least some of the pri­mates in sanc­tu­ar­ies. “These pri­mates have suf­fered enough,” added Bud­kie. “They deserve a chance to have a new life in anoth­er envi­ron­ment where their needs will be put first.”