Opposition Faces Setback as GA Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of Monkey Prison
The legal fight to stop the construction of the largest monkey breeding facility in the U.S., planned for Bainbridge, Georgia, has taken a devastating turn. On October 31st, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Safer Human Medicine, the company behind the project, and against the State of Georgia.
Credit: PETA
Initially, the State had requested court approval to validate $300 million in tax revenue bonds to fund the facility, believing the Bainbridge City Council had properly approved the project. However, after widespread opposition from Bainbridge residents, who were excluded from the decision-making process, the State reversed its position and tried to block the project by appealing its own earlier request for bond validation.
The Court of Appeals dismissed the State's case, stating that because the State had originally won the bond approval it requested, it lacked legal grounds to appeal that decision, as appeals are for those that lose a case. The ruling was based purely on legal procedure, but Safer Human Medicine has now falsely claimed the decision implies that their approval process was fully aboveboard.
Despite the setback, Bainbridge residents remain determined. Stand Up Bainbridge GA, a member group of more than 7,000 people opposing the project, vowed to keep fighting, promising to use every tool available to stop the facility.
PETA’s Senior Science Advisor, Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, also responded to the news of the court’s ruling with defiance, releasing a statement that reads in part: “This fight is far from over. The court’s decision, based on a dizzying and often confusing set of facts, is nothing more than a bump on a one-way road leading to the end of a cruel and pointless monkey-breeding colossus that’s vehemently opposed by the residents of Bainbridge.”
The stakes of this case became even more clear shortly after the disappointing court ruling, when a group of 43 juvenile monkeys escaped from a similar facility in neighboring South Carolina, sparking public safety concerns. The poor, innocent monkeys now on the loose were being raised in the facility to eventually be used in horrific brain experiments. Although the escaped rhesus macaques now face the serious threat of being killed in an unfamiliar environment, their potential recapture represents a fate worse than death, as they will be returned to the animal testing pipeline and experience unthinkable pain and suffering before they are inevitably slaughtered and discarded.
The residents of Bainbridge are resolute: they will not allow such suffering and chaos to take root in their town. We will continue to do our part to draw attention to this important case but we need your help to keep the people of Bainbridge in the public eye. Please sign our petition to help stop this monkey prison for good!