LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.,None — A national animal advocacy group says several Lawrenceville residents have filed nuisance complaints against an Emory research facility where a monkey escaped last week and are urging the center to shut down.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, said 18 residents have filed nuisance complaints with the Lawrenceville Planning, Zoning and Inspections Department calling for the Emory University Yerkes National Primate Research Center Field Station laboratory to be shut down.
The complaints said the facility is a danger to the animals and people around the center.
"Not only is Yerkes causing thousands of primates to suffer inside its laboratories, it is exposing the people of Lawrenceville to serious health and safety risks —and it even went so far as to try to keep the recent escape a secret," says PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo. "A dreadful facility like Yerkes has no place in modern society, especially right in the middle of a densely populated community."
Last week, PETA filed a federal complaint urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate the recent monkey escape.
Previous Stories: June 23, 2011: Missing Monkey Sought In Gwinnett County June 23, 2011: Search Under Way For Missing Research Monkey
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