A plan to build a massive monkey-breeding facility that could eventually house 30,000 long-tailed macaques in a small Georgia city has sparked a complex legal battle, pitting local residents against a company whose executives have faced scrutiny for their past handling of animals destined for medical research.

The fate of the facility is currently in the hands of the Georgia Court of Appeals, which will consider on Thursday whether to overturn the validation for a bond that the city of Bainbridge promised to Safer Human Medicine. This company, founded by veterans of the animal research industry, received the bond after Bainbridge leaders approved the project in December.

However, in the months following the approval, residents, with support from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), began to push back against the project.

“It feels like somebody’s going to drop a bomb in the middle of everything that we’ve worked and built,” said lifelong Bainbridge resident June Faircloth. “We can’t sit back and let it happen.”

Community Opposition

The proposed facility has not been the first such project to face local opposition supported by PETA. Researchers have noted a shortage of monkeys for medical testing, with long-tailed macaques being among the most commonly used monkeys in U.S. research. Although monkeys are used in a small fraction of animal studies, researchers argue they are critical for certain medical advancements.

A similar monkey-breeding facility planned by Charles River Laboratories in Brazoria County, Texas, was halted earlier this year following local opposition aided by PETA. Additionally, a Chinese-owned company’s plan for a primate facility in Florida was scrapped a couple of years ago after PETA intervened.

These battles illustrate how animal rights activists, together with residents, have successfully opposed new facilities despite the ongoing demand from scientists.

The Role of Animal Testing

Animal testing for research has a long history and has faced considerable opposition. Scientists advocate for more humane treatment of animals used in research, warning that halting such research would hinder medical progress. In the U.S., animal testing is regulated by the Animal Welfare Act of 1966.

Dr. Paul Johnson, director of the Emory National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, highlighted that monkey research contributed to the development of COVID-19 vaccines, an HIV vaccine currently in clinical trials, and belatacept, a drug used in kidney transplantation.

“The testing can be traumatic for the monkeys. Some are euthanized, while others cycle through studies,” Johnson said. “We study monkeys because their brains are wired very much like human brains.”

Bainbridge Residents' Concerns

Bainbridge, a town of about 14,000 in southwest Georgia, saw residents turn against the macaque project after the December vote. Faircloth, a key organizer of the opposition, converted her interior design office into a hub for community members fighting to “Stop the Monkey Farm.” The office is adorned with signs, flyers, and hats amid flooring and fabrics. Many residents protested and spoke at town halls, set up a website and a Facebook group that has grown to more than a thousand members, and gather every Tuesday night to pray.

Potential Environmental and Safety Risks

Residents have voiced concerns ranging from the environmental impact of the facility to the risk of monkey escapes, which has occurred at other facilities in the U.S., such as one run by Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, albeit without reports of harm to nearby residents.

“We’re looking at a jungle: noise, stink, and the possibility of diseases,” said Penny Reynolds, who lives near the proposed facility site in Bainbridge.

Safer Human Medicine has assured residents that it would take every precaution to manage waste, noise, and odors. Waste would be contained within the facilities and sent to the city wastewater treatment plant. The company claimed that noise would remain within the facility and there would not be a “noticeable smell.”

Scrutiny of Safer Human Medicine’s Executives

Residents have also pointed to the backgrounds of some of Safer Human Medicine’s executives as reasons to doubt their commitment. CEO Jim Harkness was previously the chief operating officer of Envigo, a company that recently pleaded guilty to neglecting thousands of dogs and agreed to pay a record $35 million fine. Chief Operating Officer Kurt Derfler left Charles River Laboratories last year, months after the Justice Department subpoenaed it over potential wild monkey smuggling from Cambodia. Charles River Laboratories maintained that any concerns about its role were “without merit.”

Neither Harkness nor Derfler was individually charged in relation to those cases. Safer Human Medicine declined interview requests but stated via email, “Envigo was operating during unprecedented circumstances brought on by the pandemic.” It added, “We have been committed to operating responsibly and ethically for decades in this field and we will continue doing just that.”

The Future of the Facility

Safer Human Medicine intends to build multiple monkey enclosures on a property in rural Georgia. The company stated it would not use wild-caught macaques, which can carry viruses like herpes B, and that the macaques would come from Asia, without specifying where.

Community opposition has made a significant impact. Rick McCaskill, the executive director of the Development Authority of Bainbridge and Decatur County, remarked that what was initially seen as a “tremendous investment” of almost $400 million and 260 jobs quickly turned contentious. Following community backlash, Bainbridge leaders voted in February to rescind their support for the Safer Human Medicine project.

“We felt like the divisiveness and the unrest in the community was outweighing the benefit of the project,” McCaskill said.

The Broader Context of Animal Testing

Research monkeys are bred at the seven National Primate Research Centers, each with its breeding colony, as well as other facilities across the country. The National Primate Research Centers typically use rhesus macaques, while pharmaceutical companies prefer long-tailed macaques — the type Safer Human Medicine plans to breed.

There is a shift towards reducing animal testing for drug development. In 2022, President Joe Biden signed the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, allowing alternatives to animals when possible. This year, several members of Congress introduced a bill to facilitate a move away from animal research.

Jim Newman, the communications director for Americans for Medical Progress, noted, “It’s likely going to be a collection of alternatives, from AI to computer models to organs on a chip. But what we currently have available can only reduce animals by a certain amount.”

Continuing Dependency on Monkeys

For now, researchers still rely on monkeys for some testing, and some animal researchers report a shortage of long-tailed macaques, noting a more than 20% drop in imports in 2020 after China halted exports. They also report skyrocketing prices for long-tailed macaques.

Safer Human Medicine sees its planned facility as a solution to the shortage. It plans to start with 500 to 1,000 monkeys and scale up, with funding from industry and private sources within the U.S. The company has not disclosed the names of its funding sources.