A rhesus macaque monkey stares upwards.

July 09, 2019Boston Globe exclusive: Animal welfare advocates sue government over treatment of research primates

Five years ago, animal rights advocates called on federal regulators to improve the conditions of non-human primates used in federally funded research studies. The government still hasn't responded.

On July 9, 2020, Harvard’s Animal Law & Policy Clinic filed a lawsuit against the USDA on behalf of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society and the Animal Legal Defense Fund for failure to protect primates used in biomedical research.

Student Brett Richey ’21, who took the lead on the case, supported by clinic director Katherine Meyer, is quoted in a Boston Globe exclusive about the case.

“We are bringing this case to compel the USDA to put in place clear, enforceable laws that will ease the burden of suffering on non-human primates, some of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom,” she said.

Read the Complaint.