PETITION TARGET: Joe Lonsdale, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of 8VC
Tens of thousands of monkeys could be born into captivity to be sold for experiments — and a billionaire’s venture capital firm is helping bankroll the plan.
Joe Lonsdale’s firm, 8VC, invested $20 million in Safer Human Medicine, a company planning to breed approximately 30,000 macaques in the U.S. for medical research.
The startup’s founder, Jim Harkness, previously served as chief operating officer of Envigo, which pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Animal Welfare Act after failing to provide dogs with proper veterinary care and safe housing at its Virginia breeding facility.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health are working to reduce animal testing and advance humane alternatives — a stark contrast to investing millions in breeding monkeys for laboratories.
Macaques are intelligent, sensitive beings who deserve freedom and the companionship of their families. They should never be bred for a life of isolation and confinement, subjected to painful experiments, or killed when they are no longer deemed useful.
Sign our petition urging Joe Lonsdale to stop funding ventures that support animal testing and instead invest in modern, cruelty-free research methods.
