Virginia Senate Seeks Protection for Primate Retirement
It sounds like a good idea. But it also raises the question: How was this not addressed before?
On February 4, 2025, the Virginia Senate passed SB 907. The bill focuses on the treatment of nonhuman primate test subjects at state facilities once they are no longer viable for research purposes. If the bill becomes law, retirement at a sanctuary becomes a viable option. The only solution currently available is euthanasia.
Thank You for Your Service?
The potential need for legislative intervention was first raised in June of 2024. State Senators Jennifer Boysko, William Stanley, and Sam Rasoul became aware of repeated violations of federal animal welfare regulations by the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), part of the Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University.
EVMS is the only public school in Virginia that uses live primates for animal testing. Long-tailed macaques, rhesus macaques, and olive baboons are some of the animals involved. Areas being researched include the effects of estrogen on pregnancy and the development of offspring. EVMS receives federal funding for the studies.
In 2021, EVMS was cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act. Without scientific approval or justification, they had performed up to six cesarean sections per baboon.
EVMS argued that the multiple procedures conducted were required for important research. The school was given an exemption allowing them to continue the practice in 2022. This was revoked in 2023 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) after it was determined that EVMS was not heeding proper animal welfare through specific procedures.
Since the baboons in question were no longer available for testing, EVMS had no use for them. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) alerted state lawmakers to documents they uncovered that showed EVMS had euthanized the baboons despite an animal sanctuary offering to take them in.
The organization also accused EVMS of mistreating the animals, violating testing restrictions, and denying them adequate veterinarian care.
The Unfortunate Precedent
The mistreatment of research animals is a subject Virginia was already aware of. In 2022, a federal investigation into a research beagle breeding operation located in the state revealed violations of the Animal Welfare Act and the Clean Water Act. This resulted in fines of $35 million, the shuttering of the business, and over 4,000 beagles being adopted through shelters.
In the aftermath, Virginia passed several bills concerning the welfare of test animals. One stated that cats and dogs had to be offered for adoption once their testing viability had passed. The head of EVMS opposed it, claiming that animals bred for laboratory research would suffer stress if removed from that environment.
The Virginia Senate disagreed, as evidenced by their passing of SB 907. Nonhuman primates no longer available for testing can be offered to certified sanctuaries. In a nod to EVMS's concerns, the bill allows a testing facility's attending veterinarian to be consulted on whether a former test subject is a good candidate for retirement at a sanctuary.
No 401(k) or Gold Watch
Virginia's SB 907 has to go through the Virginia House before the governor can sign it into law. While there's no guarantee a sanctuary will be a perfect fit for former primate test subjects, it's more of a potential "thank you" for their sacrifice than euthanasia.
Related Resources
- 3 Laws Hoping To Protect Family Pets and Animal Welfare (FIndLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- What Is Considered Animal Abuse Under the Law? (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Exotic Animal Laws by State (FindLaw's Torts and Personal Injury Law)
