End of the "Baby Monkey" Case: Humans Get Off Scot-Free

May 2005

At a hearing held on 15 December 2004, Chicago's U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo accepted a plea agreement, negotiated with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. lab animal breeding and importing firm LABS of Virginia. Under the plea agreement, the government agreed to dismiss all charges against three indicted LABS officers and to fine the company a mere $500,000 for illegally importing baby monkeys from Indonesia in 1997.

The agreement was entered last August between the defendants and the U.S. attorney's office. It is sobering to reflect that, despite illegally and inhumanely importing hundreds of primates into the U.S., all the human defendants got off scot-free. The company's modest fine was a result of pleading guilty to just one felony count of submitting false records. Sadly, the monkeys didn't escape their fate of living as U.S. laboratory animals.

Baby monkey at LABS       © Ann Haynes

In 1997 Dr. Shirley McGreal reported in IPPL News on an eyewitness account of dozens of baby monkeys packed into Air France crates at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. In April 2002 the importing company, LABS of Virginia, and three of its officers were indicted. LABS and its President, David Taub, were each charged with eight felonies and four misdemeanors (12 counts each) and faced steep fines and long prison terms, with two other LABS officials each facing one criminal charge.

The case ultimately involved over a thousand crab-eating macaques, including many pregnant monkeys and unweaned babies as young as three to five weeks old, who had been sold by the Indonesian animal dealer Agus Darmawan. Shipment of infant animals violates U.S. law. In addition, IPPL obtained evidence showing that the April and May 1997 shipments had included not only baby monkeys, but also wild-caught adult monkeys shipped on fraudulent "captive-born" documents acquired through bribes paid to Indonesian officials.

In the months and years following the discovery by IPPL of the violations, Dr. McGreal and IPPL members protested to numerous officials around the world, calling for all involved to be investigated and prosecuted.

Unfortunately, IPPL believes that justice has NOT been served in this case.

See related story: Baby Monkey Lawsuit