The Fierce Battle to Stop a Massive Monkey-Breeding Facility in Georgia
A deep dive into the controversial plan to build America’s largest monkey-breeding facility in Georgia and the community’s determination to stop it
Los Angeles, August 8th, 2024 — A group of outraged Georgia residents have united to fight a plan to put what would be America’s largest laboratory monkey-breeding facility in the small town of Bainbridge, Georgia, which is 233 miles south of Atlanta and just 40 miles north of Tallahassee, Florida. The residents, supported by PETA, argue that local officials approved the proposal during an illegally assembled meeting, violating Georgia’s Open Meetings Act. Their overarching complaint is that this highly controversial plan was engineered behind the backs of the very citizens who would be impacted, with nobody asking homeowners if they wanted to become neighbors with 30,000 imprisoned monkeys, knowing full well the likely answer would be: hell no. UnchainedTV’s Jane Velez-Mitchell interviewed two people heavily involved in trying to stop this monkey facility from being built, PETA’s Amy Meyer and Kristina Martin of Stop the Money Business Bainbridge Group. You can watch the entire conversation here:
Click Here To Join the Fight Against Massive Monkey Prison
Community Uproar and Legal Battle
A lawsuit has been filed by Bainbridge residents to stop the facility that plans to house 30,000 monkeys, twice the human population of the town. Critics argue the presence of thousands of caged monkeys in distress, awaiting shipment for experiments, would cast a pall over their close-knit community, causing constant anxiety and negatively affecting their property values. There are fears regarding the pollution the fecal waste of 30,000 primates could cause to neighboring waterways. There are fears of monkey escapes, which has occurred at other primate facilities in the past. And, there are fears of the spread of disease from captive monkeys to humans.
Kristina Martin, a fourth-generation Decatur Countian, a leader in the effort to stop the laboratory monkey breeding facility in Bainbridge, returned to her hometown several years ago to uplift her community. But, now, she has found herself at the forefront of this fight. “Our local officials have basically just put a huge dark cloud over everything that everyone in the town has worked so hard to build,” she said. For more information or to get involved, visit PETA’s dedicated page on this campaign. There is also a Go-Fund-Me Page set up by local residents to raise money for their legal battle.
PETA’s Involvement and Advocacy
PETA’s Amy Meyer, a veteran grassroots organizer who started campaigning against animal experimentation while she was a student at the University of Utah, has been instrumental in mobilizing support against the planned facility. She has led campaigns to stop similar operations and exposed many torturous vivisection experiments on primates. She said:
“What they’re planning here in Bainbridge is unprecedented in this country, They’re planning to ultimately confine 30,000 monkeys on any given day, and would be generating more than 400,000 gallons of wastewater a day. These are all monkeys who would be in the pipeline to be sent to laboratories across the country, where they’ll be force-fed chemicals, and addicted to drugs like cocaine.”
The Facility’s Impact on Bainbridge
The proposed monkey-breeding facility has sparked significant concern among Bainbridge residents. The potential for zoonotic diseases, environmental pollution, and the ethical implications of breeding monkeys for vivisection has galvanized the community. During public hearings, residents packed the courtroom, wearing t-shirts that read “Stop the Monkey Farm.”
Martin highlighted the broader implications, stating, “Our Flint River flows straight into the Gulf. This is not only a fight for the town, our river, the beautification, and wildlife, this also affects the panhandle of the Gulf Coast.”
You can watch another interview about the battle to stop this facility that UnchainedTV did with PETA’s Kathy Guillermo, Senior Vice President of Laboratory Investigations, here:
“I think the citizens of any county in any state are far more powerful together than any company or any single legislator.” — Kathy Guillermo, Senior VP of PETA
Local Residents Say They Need Your Help to Stop It
Opposition to the monkey facility is gaining traction, with residents using various platforms and strategies to voice their concerns. They have organized protests, attended local government meetings, and engaged in public education campaigns. The community’s efforts have also drawn national attention, with media outlets covering the unfolding events.
Amy Meyer points out, “The citizens of Bainbridge want nothing to do with this. It’s clear that the company is not trying to improve human health or bring quality jobs to Bainbridge. All they care about is making as much money as they can, while exploiting an endangered species of monkeys.”
UnchainedTV continues to cover the story, providing updates and amplifying the voices of Bainbridge residents. We invite the corporation and/or any Bainbridge government representative on any time to respond.
“We’re on the ground because many people think that it’s a done deal, and we’re constantly working every single day because it’s NOT a done deal.” — Kristina Martin, Stop the Money Business Bainbridge Group
Meanwhile, PETA is battling the abuse of primate for experimentation on numerous fronts. Below, you can watch this video describing how PETA is pledging a million dollars to move 1,000 illegally imported long-tailed macaques to the Texas Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary:
What's Your Reaction?
