July 29, 2016 – Florida Politics
by Jim Rosica
A public records lawsuit involving a company that provides monkeys for animal research labs has been withdrawn.
Primate Products, Inc. of Hendry County, the Florida Department of Agriculture and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Thursday jointly agreed to drop the case.
That means documents the company said contain “trade secrets” are now public record. The department released the records Friday.
Primate Products breeds and sells “nonhuman primates for use in biomedical research,” the suit said.
“Now we may be able to find out what happened to monkeys like Loretta, who plucked out her own hair after she was housed in a dangerous social grouping and attacked by other monkeys,” PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo said in an email.
“The records have always been — and should remain — available to the public,” she added. [READ MORE]