Ever since 2000, December 14th has been “Monkey Day” in the U.S., and in many countries around the world. Non-human primates are our closest living biological relatives—and it’s time to celebrate them!

To mark this day, we’re sharing some great news: Our recent analysis of USDA data reveals that five U.S.-based institutions have achieved the greatest reductions in experiments that inflict intentional pain and no pain relief on non-human primates

Not all primate experiments are created equal, and ones involving intentional pain and no pain relief are known as “Category E”.

NEAVS’s analysis of USDA data shows that the these five U.S.-based institutions have achieved the greatest reductions in Category E experiments on non-human primates from 2015 to 2017:

Reasons to Celebrate Today:

1. University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)

• Reduced to zero primates in Cat E experiments!

• In 2015, they had 12 primates suffering in Category E experiments. But as of 2017, they’re down to zero.

2. Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia, PA)

• Reduced to zero primates in Cat E experiments!

• Zero suffering primates in 2017! They had 14 in 2015.

3. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals (Ridgefield, CT)

• From 34 primates suffering in 2015 down to just three (3) primates in 2017.

• An 88% reduction from 2016 to 2017!

4. Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (Boston, MA)

• From four (4) suffering primates in 2015 to two (2) in 2017

5. National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD)

• They reduced from having 220 primates suffering in Category E experiments in 2015 down to 174 in 2017.

• Note: This isn’t a statement about experiments funded by NIH at other institutions, which is a much bigger universe. This is referring to experiments being done actually at an NIH facility. Most of the primate experiments in the U.S. are funded by NIH, even though they don’t take place at NIH facilities.

Of course, we think all of these experiments should be responsibly ended, and immediately.

But we don’t want to miss an opportunity to recognize a genuinely positive trend that has our team cheering. We’re grateful to the people at these institutions who helped make these reductions happen. After all, they reduced the number of primates that suffer in experiments that we know involve intentional pain, and no pain relief.

Keep in mind that as of 2017, the number of primates suffering in experiments has never been higher. So any reductions are worth celebrating. We’re working to ensure that by the time the next Monkey Day rolls around, more people and institutions will take a stand to end Category E experiments all together.

You can make this possible. Together, we’ve made history before. We’ve led the charge to end the use of chimpanzees in U.S. biomedical resarch and testing and we’ve exposed some of the worst abuses, All with your help.

Join us in our fight to make history again and put an end to this suffering by making your gift today.