CDC Moves to End All Monkey Experiments

Statement from Ed Butler, Executive Director, Rise for Animals

BOSTON, November 21, 2025—Today’s reporting—that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has directed an end to all experiments using nonhuman primates—is reason to celebrate. If confirmed, it would mark a critical step toward ending the extreme suffering of monkeys trapped inside CDC labs. And it’s a good sign the federal government is listening to the majority of Americans who want these archaic and violent experiments to end. 

Rise for Animals has worked relentlessly to bring us to this moment. We’ve exposed the horrors inside primate labs and breeding facilities—monkeys’ skulls drilled open, macaques forcibly restrained, desperate escape attempts, Cold War–era infrastructure propping up the National Primate Research Centers. We’ve secured wins before—including helping to end the use of chimpanzees in U.S. biomedical research and testing in 2015, pushing Congress to restrict new primate research funding in 2024, and fighting to free the long-imprisoned “Alamogordo lab chimps” in 2025—and this moment joins that long legacy of exposing cruelty and driving federal change. And with every victory, we’re reminded why this work matters—not only for animals, but for the people whose lives depend on real scientific progress.

People living with HIV and other infectious diseases deserve research that truly works. For decades, primate experiments have failed to deliver meaningful breakthroughs, wasting precious time and resources. Ending these tests isn’t just compassion for animals—it’s smart science. The government must invest in modern, human-relevant methods that actually deliver the cures people need.

If confirmed, today’s CDC directive is a step in that direction. But it’s just one step. The CDC must publicly confirm it, release clear timelines, detail what happens to the surviving monkeys, and commit to sanctuary pathways—not transfers to other labs or breeding facilities. 

And perspective matters: the CDC reported using 240 primates in 2024. While we fight for every animal, the CDC’s 240 primates represent just 0.2% of all nonhuman primates in U.S. laboratories and only 3% of those reported by the federal government.

So as we celebrate this progress, we push forward. Other agencies must follow CDC’s lead. We will not stop until the entire system of cruelty and corruption is dismantled—and every single monkey is free.

###

MEDIA CONTACT

Maren Vespia
Head of Media Relations, Rise for Animals
maren@riseforanimals.org

About Rise for Animals
Rise for Animals is a national animal rights organization fighting to end animal experimentation forever. riseforanimals.org