Animal-welfare advocates and MPs are urging the Canadian government to prevent endangered monkeys that were imported from Cambodia for use in a laboratory being released from quarantine within days, saying they should be sent to a sanctuary instead.
Since early last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been denying permits for the import of Cambodian macaques after an investigation found evidence that thousands of monkeys caught in the wild had been smuggled to the U.S. from Cambodia.
Animal-welfare advocates and MPs say that since the U.S. authorities took action, Canada has seen an exponential increase in imports. They want Canada to stop importing Cambodian macaques for use in labs while questions remain about whether the shipments could include illegally wild-caught animals.
