Monkey
A monkey dressed as The Monkey King stands with a chain around its neck at a zoo in Shenyang, Liaoning province May 10, 2014. Reuters

A leading animal rights organisation in the UK has claimed that monkeys are still being subjected to "unnecessary and unjustifiable" use during lab testing experiments despite laws in place to protect primates against such activities.

Cruelty Free International based their conclusion on research secretly conducted in universities, contract testing facilities, government laboratories and hospitals across the UK. According to the organisation, evidence of alleged "distressing, invasive and harmful" treatment that made a mockery of the animals' "special protection" status were found during the review of the monkey experiments.

“Our report shows that it is still far too easy for these highly intelligent and social animals to be used in extremely cruel and distressing experiments that are wasteful and even frivolous in their design,” said Dr Katy Taylor, director of science at Cruelty Free International, in a statement.

Taylor further said that more than fulfilling the need to advance in medical sciences and provide a real cure for any of the human disease, such monkey experiments just seem to satisfy the curiosity of the researchers or to defend the continued use of primates for testing purpose.

European Union law governs the use of monkeys in research within Europe. The law states that the monkeys can be used for military research, basic experiments and research around preservation of primate species and life-threatening or debilitating human conditions.

However, Cruelty Free International believes that the law has failed to stop the illegitimate use of primates in the research. It is estimated that nearly 2,000 primates are used within the UK each year for conducting various experiments.

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