Company behind huge monkey-breeding facility in Georgia vows to build the facility despite opposition
PETA’s Senior Science Advisor, Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel pushes back against Safer Human Medicine’s claims that the facility will benefit Bainbridge residents.
A baby monkey peers out of his cage. Credit: PETA
Safer Human Medicine, the corporation planning to construct the largest monkey-breeding facility in the United States, has vowed to build the facility in Bainbridge, Georgia, despite multiple lawsuits, the withdrawal of support from Decatur County leaders, and strong opposition from local residents.
The facility will be capable of holding up to 30,000 monkeys - twice the human population of Bainbridge - and will cost an estimated $396 million to build. Once operational, it will breed long-tailed macaques for sale to pharmaceutical companies that use the animals in testing and experiments.
Currently, construction of the facility is on hold after Bainbridge filed its second lawsuit, citing economic harm, odors, noise, pathogens, and the risk of hazardous waste leaks in an effort to halt the project. This latest legal action is part of an ongoing campaign by local residents, who have joined forces with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) since the beginning of the year to oppose the facility.
Despite strong opposition from the local community, executives from Safer Human Medicine recently spoke to local media in an effort to address concerns from Bainbridge residents, with Chief Financial Officer James Giovanoni stating that the company is 'going to continue to push forward.'
Safer Human Medicine’s executive team includes former employees from Charles River Laboratories and Envigo, two companies with controversial histories in animal breeding for research.
Among its leadership is Jim Harkness, a former high-ranking executive at Envigo, which previously operated a beagle-breeding facility in Cumberland, Virginia, supplying dogs for experimentation. Envigo pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for violating the Animal Welfare Act by failing to provide adequate veterinary care and staffing earlier this year. The company agreed to pay $22 million in fines, including a record $11 million, and an additional $13.5 million to support animal welfare and environmental projects, cover law enforcement expenses, and improve its facilities. This settlement followed extensive undercover investigations by PETA and a two-year inquiry by the USDA into the mistreatment of thousands of beagles at the facility. As part of the resolution, Envigo agreed to close, leading to the adoption of nearly 4,000 dogs.
Speaking with WTXL-TV, Giovanoni argued that there is a need for primates in medical research in the US, stating, "we wouldn't be sitting here if there wasn't a huge need for this critical resource.”
However, PETA’s Senior Science Advisor, Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, who has extensive prior experience working with primates in biomedical laboratories, disputes this, advocating for animal-free research as the future of medical research.
“These former (retired) employees of monkey importer Charles River and Envigo have been sitting too long, blind to the fast-moving advancements in science,” Jones-Engel told Species Unite. “The pharmaceutical industry is rapidly shifting in response to new regulatory, ethical, and macroeconomic pressures, embracing New Alternative Methods (NAMs) that will eliminate the need to rely upon monkeys as stand-ins for humans.”
Jones-Engel points to a recent decision by Charles River, the largest monkey importer into the US, to abandon its plans for a similar facility in Texas as an indication of shifting industry trends.
The biomedical company had acquired over 500 acres of ecologically sensitive land in Brazoria County, Texas in 2023, with plans to construct a huge monkey-breeding facility. As in Bainbridge, local residents were outraged and organized opposition to the proposal. The case went in their favor when, just last month, the Brazoria County Board of Commissioners held a meeting where the panel unanimously recommended that federal authorities reject the proposal.
“Charles River also recently abandoned its proposed monkey facility in Brazoria, Texas citing the current trends in the research industry, decreasing client demand for monkeys and the need to reduce their capital investments,” said Jones-Engel.
“Even their former employer, Charles River, is investing half a billion dollars in animal-free methods,” she continued. “Industry leaders are pushing these as the future, focused on delivering safer, more effective treatments to patients as quickly as possible.”
Jones-Engel states that “SHM’s “vision” for a primate facility exists only on paper and in their imaginations.”
“Even if they weren’t bogged down by overwhelming community opposition, which could prevent them from laying a single brick, it’s clear they’re already too late,” she said. “The future is already unfolding, and SHM is still playing catch-up.”
Credit: PETA
Another argument being pushed by SHM is the company’s claim that it will bring economic benefits to the local area. "We are going to create over 400 jobs within the first ten years,” Giovanoni told WTXL-TV.
However, Jones-Engel strongly disputes this claim, arguing that SHM’s projections are misleading and fail to account for the facility's gradual development timeline.
“Giovanoni claims that over 400 jobs will be created, yet earlier in the interview [with WTXL-TV] states that full capacity is over a decade away and may never be reached. According to the original SHM presentation--obtained by PETA through an open records request-- by year three, the facility will only provide 44 jobs, and by year eight, if operating at full capacity, will only provide 186 jobs.”
Jones-Engel further points to what she describes as an unsustainable staffing model: “According to that original SHM presentation, the starting salary for animal caretaker positions at the company, which don’t require prior experience or advanced degrees, is $37,440, which amounts to roughly $18/hour. These positions are both emotionally and physically extremely difficult and many individuals who have worked in primate-breeding facilities or laboratories report being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of their experiences. Primate facilities around the country are consistently unable to staff even basic husbandry and veterinary positions.”
Environmental and Health Fears
The proposed facility has raised environmental and human health concerns. PETA points out that at full capacity, the facility would produce more than 444,000 gallons of wastewater, including feces, urine, and other fluids from 30,000 caged monkeys. The land site is just half a mile from the Flint River, which provides water for crop irrigation and ultimately flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
Last year, an outbreak of tuberculosis was uncovered in monkeys at a Michigan laboratory, raising worries among residents that harmful and deadly pathogens could spread from the breeding facility’s monkeys to humans in the local area.
Flint River, Bainbridge, Decatur County, Georgia. Credit: Michael Rivera
During a recent community town hall meeting, environmentalists voiced concerns about the project, particularly for local water sources like the Flint River and Lake Seminole.
"Is there a pre-treatment plant? Meaning they are going to kill all of the viruses before it even gets there,” asked Flint River Keeper, Gordon Rogers.
When speaking with WTXL-TV about the environmental and health concerns, Dave Johst, president for Safer Human Medicine stated, "We trust and respect the folks that manage the Bainbridge water treatment system when they tell us that what we put in there is properly treated.”
The Georgia Court of Appeals is expected to decide on the validation of the revenue bond by November. However, Jones-Engel says that the fight against the facility will continue, regardless of the Court's decision: “This won’t be the end of things.”
Please join Species Unite in speaking out against the monkey-breeding facility plans by signing our petition here.
Learn more by listening to the Species Unite podcast episode with Jones-Engel, ‘S11. E5: Lisa Jones-Engel: Stop the Georgia Monkey Farm!’
Read more about the solutions creating a world without animal testing here.
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