Worker hasn’t returned since accidentally freeing S.C. monkeys
YEMASSEE, S.C. - The CEO of a South Carolina research facility where dozens of monkeys escaped said the employee connected to the incident has not returned to work.
All but a handful of the monkeys have been recaptured.
Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center CEO Greg Westergaard said the company determined the enclosure that 43 Rhesus macaques escaped from was new and in perfect working order.
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Westergaard said immediately after the incident occurred, the employee involved was approached by a supervisor and told she could be terminated if it was determined the escape was not the result of a structural failure.
“I am told at that point the employee walked off the job and has not returned,” Westergaard said. “We do not plan to publicly release the employee’s name.”
At least 32 of the escaped macaques have been recaptured.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded Alpha Genesis more than $19 million in 2024.
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Stop Animal Exploitation Now, a watchdog group seeking to end all animal experimentation, filed a federal complaint against Alpha Genesis, calling for a six-figure fine against the facility.
Previous escapes involving fewer monkeys were reported at Alpha Genesis in 2016 and 2022.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace has also called for an inquiry into the incident and co-sponsored legislation that would change regulations for research involving experimentation on primates.
Mace says the facility has a disturbing history of animal welfare violations and has received tens of millions in taxpayer funding.
“We want to get to the bottom of what’s actually really going on. This is not the first time primates have escaped. We want to make sure that there’s oversight to what is actually happening at this facility and that we get all the answers for the local community both in Yemassee, Beaufort County and beyond,” Mace said.
“We want to make sure that there’s oversight to what is actually happening at this facility and that we get all the answers for the local community both in Yemassee, Beaufort County and beyond,” Mace said.
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